Almendares, Trahan earn weekly football honors after Cajuns’ win at Marshall

NEW ORLEANS – Coming off a 23-13 win last week at Marshall, kicker Kenneth Almendares and safety Bralen Trahan were honored for their respective performances for Louisiana’s Ragin Cajuns on Monday.

Almendares, a sophomore, was named as both the Sun Belt Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Special Teams Player of the Week while Trahan, a Lafayette native and former Acadiana High product, was named the SBC Defensive Player of the Week.

Almendares accounted for 11 of Louisiana’s 23 points in the contest after going 3-for-3 in field goals with a pair of PAT attempts. The Clute, Texas native drilled a career-long 52-yarder at the end of the third quarter to give the Ragin’ Cajuns a 16-7 lead. Almendares broke open a scoreless contest in the first quarter with a 42-yarder before hitting a 33-yarder in the middle of the third quarter as part of a 20-point, second-half outburst.

Trahan registered a career-high 12 tackles in Louisiana’s 23-13 win at Marshall last Wednesday. With his team trailing at halftime, Trahan hauled in his team-high second interception of the year and 11th of his career on the Thundering Herd’s opening drive of the second half to change the complexion of the game. Trahan helped lead the Ragin’ Cajuns defense that held Marshall to just 276 yards of total offense and 137 passing yards.

Louisiana (3-3, 1-2 SBC) returns to action on Saturday when it plays host to Arkansas State in a 4 p.m. contest at Cajun Field. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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