University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Black Squad Wins Golden Eagle Spring Game, 14-10
4/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Black Squad Wins Golden Eagle Spring Game, 14-10
Derrick Nix, and 7-of-15 passing from quarterback Zac White, the Black squad posted a
hotly-contested 14-10 victory over the Gold team in The University of Southern
Mississippi's Annual Black and Gold Spring Football Game here Saturday.
The biggest downside of the game occurred early when senior quarterback Jeff Kelly was
injured while making a tackle after throwing an interception. He broke a bone in his right
hand and will have that hand in a cast during the expected four to six week rehab period.
"He (Kelly) has done a lot of throwing early in the spring," said Bower. "He'll be okay,
and this will give us an opportunity to get Zac (White) and Micky (D'Angelo) more snaps
before we end spring work. I'm sure his competitive instincts took over, and while I don't
mind seeing that once in a while, I don't like getting hurt from it though."
Wide receiver Kenny Johnson also was held out of the game after having a took taken out
Friday
Bower saw enough bright spots to be able to call the game a complete success. Those
positives included the rushing game that saw Nix generate a 100-yard game for the Black
squad, and Dawayne Woods come close to duplicating that feat with 87 yards on 16
carries for the Gold team and another 10 on five carries for the Black team. "I thought
Derrick ran tough, ran physical, and I thought (Dawayne) Woods ran the ball well," said
Bower. I
was impressed with both of them.
"I thought we protected (the quarterback) better during the game than we have at any
time during the spring," Bower said. "We probably should have scored more than we did,
but we put the ball on the ground too much, and we didn't make good decisions at
quarterback and that resulted in some interceptions. I thought it was a productive
scrimmage, and I was really glad to see our Black offense take it 90 yards for the winning
score late in the game. That showed me some mental toughness. We had some guys step
up and make some big plays at critical times. I was pleased with what we did today."
Kelly had completed two of five passes for 24 yards prior to his injury, and
both White and D'Angelo put together impressive performances in Kelly's
absence. White did throw a pair of interceptions, but also completed 7-of-15 for
153 yards and a 60-yard, game-winning touchdown with 2:21 left in the fourth
period for the winners. D'Angelo completed 10-of-22 for 65 yards.
Tight end Bobby Garner and wideout Leroy Handy led all receivers with four
catches each. Rocky Harrison had three for the Gold team.
Defensively, linebacker Rod Davis did his part in helping the Gold team keep
the Black team in check. He finished the game with nine solo tackles and two
assists to lead both teams. He also had a quarterback sack and a pair of pass
interceptions. Defensive back Daryon Brutely had the other interception for the
Gold team, and Alex Ray picked off one for the Black squad and returned it 26
yards. Linebacker Roy Magee added eight tackles and an assist for the Gold
team, and linebackers Terry Anderson and Chris Langston each had four solo
tackles for the winning Black team, with Langston adding a pair of assists and
Anderson one.
Bower also feels the spring continues to be a productive one. "I think we're
ahead of where we were at this time last year, certainly offensively," he said.
"Defensively, we're younger there, we've installed a lot of our defense, we've
played well, but we have to get better there. I would have liked to see us do a
little better against the run today."
Also, various awards, from last season and the current spring session, were
presented during halftime of the four, 12-minute quarter game. Players picked
up offense, defense and special teams single-game awards from last season,
along with a variety of Conference USA honors garnered during the 2000
season. Timmy Blackwell (offense) and Corey Hosey (defense) won
"Most-Improved-For-Spring-Practice" awards, and from last season, the Big Hit
Award went to Joey Pinkston and Etric Pruitt, the Big Block Award to Corey
Yates, the Big Play Award to Chad Williams and Kenneth Johnson and the Wild
Eagle Club Champion award to Joe Henley.
The Golden Eagles are scheduled to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
next week to wrap up spring football practice for 2001.
Scoring Summary:
Score By Quarters:
Gold Team 0 10 0 0 10
Black Team 7 7 0 0 14
Team QTR Time Play PAT Score
Black 1st 6:30 Kelly, 18-yd run Hanna, kick 7-0
Gold 2nd 6:17 Jones, 32-yd FG 7-3
Gold 2nd 5:14 D'Angelo, 2-yd run Jones, kick 7-10
Black 4th 2:21 White to Fowler, 60-yd pass Vanderford, Kick 14-10
