April 24, 2009

Offense Holds on to Red Shirts with Narrow 35-34 Win in Spring Game

    Youngstown -- Senior tailback Jabari Scott scored the game's only touchdown, and the offense made just enough plays to hold onto the coveted Red Jerseys with a 35-34 win in Youngstown State's 37th Annual Red-White Spring Game on Friday at Stambaugh Stadium.
    Scott's 21-yard touchdown rush on the third series put the Red ahead 23-15, and the offense withstood two late stops to hold on for the win.
    The White had a final chance to pull out the win but couldn't recover either of two onside kick tries.
    The White team led after each of the first two series, 15-12 and 6-4, behind its first of two interceptions. Kevin Smith gave the offense a big lift on the first drive with a 38-yard rush down inside the 5, but cornerback Lenny Wicks picked off Summers on a rollout pass in the end zone. Wicks returned the pick 27 yards to stop the drive.
    On the third set of plays, Summers found Aaron Pitts and Josh Lee for 14 and 18-yard completions to move the Red down to the 21-yard line. Scott then bounced off several tackles and barreled his way in to the end zone, and Stephen Blose's extra point put the offense ahead 23-15.
    The White team needed an interception by Brandian Ross to get back into the game on the fourth series. Summers avoided a blitz and threw a strike to Josh Lee on a post route, but freshman Bryan Gaiters hit the receiver to jar the ball into the air in Ross' direction who returned it 21 yards. The interception cut Red's lead to 27-25.
    Jaimie Frasure's second sack gave the White a 28-27 lead, but the offense scored five points on five straight first downs to go ahead 32-28.
    Blose's 33-yard field goal put Red up 35-30, and the White squad had stops on two consecutive third downs to make the score 35-34.

    For the game, Smith led all rushers with 107 yards on 12 carries while Dana Brown had 67 yards on 16 attempts. Scott, who scored the only offensive touchdown of the game, had 54 yards on nine rushes.

    Summers completed 9-of-15 passes for 87 yards and threw two interceptions. Marc Kanetsky was 4-of-8 for 33 yards while Dailyn Campbell was 1-of-3 for 13 yards.

    Aaron Pitts caught four passes for 58 yards while Dominique Barnes had three receptions for 23 yards. Only five receivers caught passes for the offense during the scrimmage.

    On defense, Deonta Tate and Scott Senter had seven tackles each while Gary Pezzuolo had six, including five solo stops. Jaimie Frasure and Joe Marshall each had two tackles for losses.
    The defense was shorthanded as Adam House, Luke Matelan, Jarvis Richards Mychal Savage, Rashon Simons and Averick Walker were held out of action. On offense, Kyle Banna, Donald Jones, Marcus O'Hara and David Rogers did not play.

    The Red team won the YSU Spring Game for the seventh straight time and eighth contest in the past nine years. Overall the series stands 20-17 in favor of the White squad.

NOTES: Starting for the offense were QB Summers, TB Smith, TB Dana Brown, WR Dominique Barnes, WR Pitts, WR Ty Campana, T Greg Sazdanoff, G Brian Mellott, C Justin Rechichar, G, Eric Rodemoyer and T Chris Gammon.
    Defensive starters were DE Josh Myers, DT Crispin Fernandez, DT Torrance Nicholson, RE Stephen Meadows, LB Na'eem Outler, LB Taylor Hill, LB Deonta Tate, CB Ross, CB Lenny Wicks, FS Andre Elliott and SS David Fleming.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 28-28 after fourth series, 26-19 O after third series, 15-12 D after second series, 6-4 D after first series.