'Gold'-en finish to Guidry spring at McNeese

(STATS) - McNeese State's Blue-Gold spring game ended Saturday with the kind of score that new coach Lance Guidry could appreciate - 14-0.

Guidry, elevated from defensive coordinator, and his staff split up the teams evenly because they wanted to see the sides compete hard against each other.

They received just that. Joe Lissard threw for 179 yards and a first-half touchdown to Kylon Highshaw and Ryan Ross rushed for an 11-yard score in the game's final two minutes as part of the Gold team's shutout at Cowboy Stadium.

Guidry's promotion after the loss of 10-year coach Matt Viator to Louisiana-Monroe has allowed the Cowboys to enjoy continuity this offseason. The defending Southland Conference champs were the only FCS team to go unbeaten in the regular season last year, although they fell to rival Sam Houston State in the second round of the playoffs and finished 10-1.

Guidry is keeping the DWA at McNeese - Defense With Attitude. The winning Gold team willed it while limiting the Blue to 146 yards in 48 plays. Ed Duplessis led the Gold with six stops and Dominique Hill added five.

For the Blue, quarterback Grant Ashcraft was 11 of 23 for 82 yards, and Tyler Gaspard hit on five of six passes for 44 yards with an interception. Trent Jackson had a game-high seven tackles.

The Cowboys will host Tarleton State on Sept. 3 to open their 2016 season.