BOX SCORE (HTML)
BOX SCORE (PDF)
MOREHEAD, Ky.—Morehead State football coach Matt Ballard had to be pleased with the offensive results of Sunday’s 2010 Blue-White spring game.
The white team defeated the blue team 35-21 at Jayne Stadium, and 49 of those total points were scored by the two offenses. The squads also racked up a combined 566 yards of offense between the two teams. It was a change of pace for the Eagles, who averaged 253 yards and 17.5 points per game last fall.
The offensive prowess even resulted in an exciting pair of plays before the crowd of 2,337 that sealed the win for the white team. Late in the fourth quarter with the scored tied at 21, Cory Jackson ripped off a 52-yard run down the visiting sideline, giving the white team a 28-21 lead. As Zach Lewis tried to engineer a game-tying drive on the next possession, Chase Meadows stepped in front of a Lewis pass, made the interception and returned it 53 yards for the insurance score.
“The thing that jumps out at me is how our guys compete and how they battle, and then our playmaking ability,” Ballard said. “I really like how we were able to run the ball effectively today. We’ve got lots of guys who are contributing, and we’ve got guys with playmaking ability on both sides of the ball.
The interception overshadowed a strong performance for Lewis, who was 20-of-39 for 229 yards through the air. He also had 17 carries for 18 yards. The scoring drive highlighted a good day for Jackson, who had nine carried for 78 yards, the Eagles best rusher.
“Zach’s had an outstanding spring, from how he’s handled himself, to how’ he’s run the offense, how we’ve moved the ball, his playmaking ability, his decision making ability. He’s been very poised in the pocket,” Ballard said.
Prior to late in the fourth quarter, the game had been close the entire time. The white team struck first, scoring off of a blue fumble at their own 18 yard line. After a short drive, Desmond Cox pushed the ball in from two yards out and Rainer Duzan’s point after was good. Cox finished the day with 14 carries for 66 yards.
Lewis wasted no time in getting the blue team on the board, marching his squad on a 60-yard drive that included a 17-yard scramble by Lewis and a 19-yard toss from Lewis to Andrew Hughes. Drew Morgan rushed three yards for the touchdown, but Kameron Scott kept the white team in the lead by blocking Justin Mullins point after attempt.
Sawyer kept up the back-and-forth scoring, leading the white team on its own 60-yard drive. Sawyer found Ronnie McDermott on a 22-yard pass and Dominique Goodwin on a six-yard scoring toss. Goodwin had four catches for 29 yards to lead the white team. Duzan split the uprights again for a 14-6 white team lead, the score that carried into halftime.
Lewis tied the game in the third quarter, completing passes of 25 and 28 yards to Drew Morgan and Nick Childress before scoring on a one-yard keeper. He then found Donte Sawyer on a pass for the two-point conversion. Morgan led all receivers with five catches for 53 yards.
The white team re-took the lead on a 25-yard deep route from Sawyer to Jackson, but Lewis tied it again early in the fourth quarter, again finding Donte Sawyer on a 47-yard pass play.
Despite the scoring, both defense also played well. Chris Burns had a game-high 11 tackles while Tony Bachman and Meadows each had 10. Burns and Jerome Raymond each had 1.5 sacks and Raymond had 3.5 tackles for loss.
“We haven’t blocked Jerome very well this spring and I think teams this fall are going to have the same problem in their run game-pass game,” Ballard said. “We’re going to get tremendous pressure on their passer and create havoc there I think.”
The Eagles open the 2010 fall season on Sept. 4 on the road at James Madison, a former FCS National Champion. MSU will play its home opener against St. Francis on Sept. 11 at 1 p.m.
“We’ve had a very outstanding spring,” Ballard said. “I couldn’t be any happier with our progress, how we’ve competed and how we’ve worked. We’ve really taken some great strides in all areas and I’m very very pleased with that.”
