Freshman Scottie Fleming rushed for one touchdown and sophomore Riley Davis made a scoring catch to lead the Blue team to a 24-10 victory against the White squad in the annual UTC Spring Football Game Friday night at Finley Stadium.
Fleming's 2-yard run to the end zone made it 7-0 on the Blue's first possession of the game behind the leadership of freshman quarterback Alejandro Bennifield. Fleming led all rushers with 43 yards on eight carries.
Davis had 4 catches for 90 yards, including a second quarter 60-yard scoring play from Bennifield to make it Blue 21-3 at intermission.
The White team's three points came on a Henrique Ribeiro 21-yard field goal in the first quarter, while the Blue's third TD of the first half came on a 6-yard run to the end zone by quarterback Tyler Roberson.
The two freshmen quarterbacks - Bennifield and Roberson - played for both teams.
Bennifield was 15 of 21 for 205 yards and the one scoring toss (Blue team) while Roberson was 10 of 12 for 54 yards and a 2-yard TD toss to Taharin Tyson for the White team in the third quarter. Roberson also had the aforementioned scoring run in the second quarter for a Blue team 14-3 lead.
"The two freshmen quarterbacks looked good tonight, but did make some mental mistakes."
Starting quarterback Jacob Huesman said, "The young quarterbacks progressed a lot throughout the spring and played well tonight.
"We worked a lot on throwing the ball deep this spring and all that effort paid off tonight," said the junior signal caller who connected with offensive player of the game C.J. Board (6 catches, 111 yards) on a 70 yard pass play in the first quarter.
Awards
* Offensive Player of the Game - C.J. Board 6 catches for 111 yards
"It is no surprise to me that C.J. had a good game tonight," said Jacob Huesman. "The kid is a player, runs real well, has good hands and will be our deep ball threat this fall."
* Defensive Player of the Game - Keionta Davis (DL) 2 sacks, 1 pass break up, 1 tackle for loss
"The defensive linemen work hard to get at least one sack a game," said Davis. "All the D-linemen made big strides this spring in pressuring the quarterback. I am confident with all our guys who make up the first and second string. We are looking forward to the fall to see how good we can be."
* Bob Davis Winter Warrior Award: Keionta Davis.
Lots of Catches: 11 receivers had at least two catches on the night ...
20 Weeks and Counting: Mocs open the season 20 weeks from Thursday night (Aug.28) at Central Michigan
Home Opener is Sat. Sept. 6 vs. Jacksonville State
UTC Spring Football Game
Blue 24, White 10
Blue - 14 - 7 - 3 - 0 -- 24
White - 3 - 0 - 7 - 0 -- 10
1st Quarter
Blue - Scottie Fleming 2 yard run (Nick Pollard kick), 7-0
White - Henrique Ribeiro 21 yard FG, 7-3
Blue - Tyler Roberson 6 yard run, (Pollard kick), 14-3
2nd Quarter
Blue - Riley Davis 60 pass from Alejandro Bennifield (Pollard kick), 21-3
3rd Quarter
White - Taharin Tyson 2 pass from Roberson (Ribeiro kick), 21-10
Blue - Riberio 47 field goal, 24-10
UTC Blue-White Game Stats
Plays - 106
Rushing
Scottie Fleming – 8-43,
TD
Marquis Green – 3-24
Derrick Craine – 4-22
Tyler Roberson – 7-30,
TD
Xavier Borishade – 2-11
Taharin Tyson – 2-9
C.J. Board – 1-6
Keon
Williams – 1-3
Alejandro Bennifield – 10-(-8) – Sacked three times
Passing
Jacob Huesman – 9/16 – 137
yards
Alejandro Bennifield – 15/21 – 205 yards, TD
Tyler Roberson – 10/12
– 54 yards, TD
Receiving
C.J. Board – 6-111
Riley Davis
– 4-90, TD
Malcolm Colvin – 3-44
Keon Williams – 2-27
Eric Foster –
3-26
Xavier Borishade – 2-17
Derrick Craine – 1-14
Taharin Tyson –
2-13, TD
Tyler Chancellor – 2-11
Tommy Hudson – 1-12
Troy Dye –
2-8
Scottie Fleming – 3-5
Kevin Niethammer – 2-5
Alphonso Stewart –
1-3
Punting
Nick Pollard – 54, 56
Henrique Ribeiro –
37, 42, 43
Field Goals
Nick Pollard – Made from 47
yards
Henrique Ribeiro – Made from 21, missed from 52
Defense
FR – Davis Tull
TFL – Keionta
Davis, Josh Freeman
PBU – Dee Virgin (2), Jerkerious Scott, Alex Ashlock,
Oscar Prado, Keionta Davis
SACK – Keionta Davis (2), Taylor Reynolds, James
Stone
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net