University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Gold Team Wins Spring Football Game, 19-6
4/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Gold Team Wins Spring Football Game, 19-6
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? The Gold squad, with honorary coach Adalius Thomas at the helm, used a safety, a Greg Brooks interception return for a touchdown, and a Dustin Almond-to-DaRon Lawrence scoring pass to post a 19-6 victory over the Black squad in the annual Southern Miss Black & Gold spring football game that ended 2003 spring practice for Head Coach Jeff Bower's Golden Eagles.
Brad Langley kicked a 31-yard field goal and an extra point for the winning team, while running back James Walley got the only points for the Black squad with a 14-yard run with 3:17 left in the game. A two-point conversion attempt failed.
There also was stellar defensive play, including four interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. Those aspects of the game pleased Bower. "I saw a lot of good things out there today," he said. "We still have some things we have to improve on. We turned the ball over too much and that has been a concern of mine all spring. I thought the defensive line played really well, especially Ronald Jones, Eric Scott and Terrell Paul, they all showed up throughout the game.
"Offensively, DaRon Lawrence did some good things, Chris Johnson made some good plays, Dustin Almond played well and Micky D'Angelo came back strong in the second half. We still have a lot of work to do in the kicking game. I wasn't very pleased with what we did there.
"But, it was a good day and a good way for us to end the spring."
Bower also said, that coming out of spring work, D'Angelo remains the No. 1 quarterback. "Dustin had undoubtedly his best scrimmage of the spring, but Micky is our No. 1 quarterback. This was probably the first workout of the spring that Dustin had a better day than Micky, and we'll go into the fall with Micky at the No. 1 spot."
Bower also says there's plenty of work ahead. "We got in probably less than half of the offense and will have to work hard in that area in our workouts leading up to the first game," he said. "We also have to work on more depth in the defensive line, but I think we had a good spring defensively. Next season, we'll have to be the kind of football team that plays good defense and takes care of the football. And, we still have to get much better in the kicking game.
In the season-ending scrimmage, several players, including specialty and offensive players, saw action for both teams. For the game, Almond completed 12-of-21 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown, a 9-yarder to Lawrence. D'Angelo was good on 13-of-23 passes for 157 yards, with a couple of interceptions.
Several receivers had outstanding games, including Chris Johnson, who had four catches for 125 yards. Pedi Causey added five catches for 31 yards, Antwon Courington also had five for 29 yards, James Walley five catches for 21 yards and Lawrence three for 36 yards.
Ryan Earnest topped the rushers with 13 carries for 43 yards. James Walley had seven carries for 25 yards and the 14-yard TD, and Timmy Blackwell added 31 yards on seven carries.
Trevis Coley, Terry Anderson, John Archie and Brooks had interceptions, with Brooks returning his for a touchdown.
Dillon Cleckler led the tacklers with 10 total tackles. Kevis Coley was close behind with eight, and Naton Stewart added seven and Jasper Faulk and Trevis Coley five each.
In addition to Thomas working with the Gold team as an honorary coach, legendary Golden Eagle quarterback Reggie Collier was the honorary coach for the Black team. Both were on campus over the weekend, along with other standout former Golden Eagles, for the M-Club Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony that was held Friday night.
A variety of other activities, including baseball and softball series, highlighted a busy EagleFest Weekend that drew large crowds throughout the weekend.
2003 Southern Miss Black & Gold Spring Football Game Statistics:
Since several players, especially offensively, played for both teams, statistics below will reflect each player?s total numbers for the game:
| Passing: | |||
| Player | Comp-Att/Int | Yards | TDs |
| Micky D?Angelo | 13-23/2 | 157 | 0 |
| Dustin Almond | 12-21/0 | 167 | 1 |
| Chris Crumpton | 3-4/1 | 8 | 0 |
| | |||
| Receiving: | |||
| Chris Johnson | 5 | 125 | 0 |
| Pedi Causey | 5 | 31 | 0 |
| Antwon Courington | 5 | 29 | 0 |
| James Walley | 5 | 21 | 0 |
| Daron Lawrence | 3 | 36 | 1 |
| | |||
| Rushing: | |||
| Ryan Earnest | 13 | 43 | 0 |
| Timmy Blackwell | 7 | 31 | 0 |
| James Walley | 7 | 25 | 1 |
| | |||
| Almond | 3 | 15 | 0 |
| William Adams | 3 | 13 | 0 |
| First Downs | Gold | Black |
| (Rush/Receive/Penalty) | 4/7/1 | 5/7/2 |
| | ||
| Interception Returns: | ||
| Name | Yds. | TD |
| Greg Brooks | 32 | 1 |
| John Archie | 22 | 0 |
| Terry Anderson | 24 | 0 |
| Trevis Coley | 8 | 0 |
| Defensive Leaders: | |||||
| Name | Solo | Assist | Total | TFL | Sacks |
| Dillon Cleckler | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevis Coley | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| Naton Stewart | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Jasper Faulk | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Trevis Coley | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Ronald Jones | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
