MONROE, La.?Former ULM standouts quarterback Kinsmon
Lancaster and defensive back Darrius Battles will continue their careers with
the Toronto Argonauts and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, respectively, of the
Canadian Football League.
Lancaster, who graduated from
ULM in December 2008, made his professional debut with the Bossier-Shreveport
BattleWings of the Arena Football 2 League earlier this month. The Shreveport, La., native finished his ULM career this
past fall and went into the record books as one of ULM's best at the position.
Lancaster threw 18 touchdown passes in 2007 tying him with Super Bowl
quarterback Stan Humphries for the fourth most in school history.
“I
am excited about this opportunity and I am looking forward to showing people
what I can do,” Lancaster said. “A lot of the coaches I spoke with following
the season said they needed to see more of me, so I guess my time with the
BattleWings helped. I am ready to play hard and continue to work on getting
better.”
He
was also one of ULM's most accurate passers as he completed a ULM-record 173
consecutive passes without an interception. His streak, which spanned seven
games, ranked second best in the nation at the time.
In the ULM record book, Lancaster
finished his career ranked fourth in completions (509), fourth in touchdown
passes (38), fifth in pass attempts (881) and fifth in passing yards (5,769).
What
made Lancaster an even more remarkable quarterback was his ability to run the
football. He finished his career with 1,557 rushing yards, a mere 22 yards
outside the ULM all-time top 10 and the most by a quarterback in school history.
Battles,
who graduated from ULM in May 2008, finished his ULM playing career in 2007 and
played a key part in one of the greatest victories in ULM's history. The
Mobile, Ala., native had a team-high 10 tackles and a game-high eight solo
tackles in the Warhawks' 21-14 victory at
Alabama his senior season.
“This
feels like another chance at a different life,” Battles said. “After not
playing football last season this is a second heartbeat for me. Not everyone
gets this chance and I am going to take it and run with it.”
He
finished his career with four interceptions and 15 pass breakups in just over
two full seasons of action. Battles ended his senior campaign fifth on the team
with 55 tackles and fourth with 42 solo tackles. Despite being matched up
against the opponents top receiving threat most of the season, Battles led the
Warhawks with 10 pass breakups.
Lancaster
and Battles join former Warhawks Steven Jyles (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
and Brandon Guillory (Hamilton Tiger-Cats) in the CFL.
