Blue Defeats Red In Annual Jaguar Spring Game
Trey Fetner leading the Blue Team to a score just before halftime of the 2013 Spring Game.
The Blue team, lead by Brandon Bridge, defeated the Red team 33-24 in the annual South Alabama Red-Blue JagDay game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday.
Bridge went 10-of-18 for 169 yards and two touchdowns while Trey Fetner found the end zone twice on the ground for the Blue team. Bridge opened the scoring with a 25 yard toss to Kyle Sappington less than three minutes into the game. Bridge would connect with Tryome Bivins for a 44 yard touchdown about midway through the third quarter.
Fetner carried the ball six times for 35 yards in the game with his two touchdowns. He gave the Blue team the lead for good with a one yard scoring run :32 seconds before the halftime break. He also closed out the scoring with a touchdown as time exired.
Blue took the lead early with Bridge’s throw to Sappington. The Red team would even it out on the next possession though. Metheny would completed a pair of passes to Waldon for 20 and 14 yards respectively, both for first downs. Then Metheny would cap it off with a seven yard touchdown toss to Jay Jones to cap off the 10 play, 65 yard drive with under five minutes left in the opening quarter.
Jereme Jones would put the Blue team back on top 14-7 on a 36 yard touchdown reception with less than seven minutes left until the half.
There were three scores in the final three minutes of the first half. Logan Gunn would connect on a 41 yard field goal to draw the Red team within four points of the Blue squad. Then a Desmond LaVelle interception would let Jay Jones cap off a four play, 27 yard drive with a two yard touchdown run to give the Red team it’s first lead of the game at 17-14.
Fetner would march the Blue team 65 yards in eight plays in a 1:21 to retake the lead 20-17 at halftime. He would pick up first downs on gains of 14 and six yards respectively while moving the ball down to the two yard line on a 43 yard pass to Sappington.
In the second half, Bridge’s scoring pass to Bivins would extend the Blue lead to 10 points before the Red team responded. Derric Burrell would score on a four yard run on the first play of the final quarter to cut the lead to one score at 27-24.
The blue squad took over with five minutes remaining in the game after the Red team turned the ball over on downs at their own 47 yard line. Fetner would lead the drive that would burn the clock and drive down to the 2 yard line before stopping the clock to set up the final dive into the end zone for the final score, 33-24.
The Blue squad had an advantage of 362-304 in total offensive yardage with 256 of them coming through the air. Sappington recorded three catches for 80 yards and a touchdown. Bivins added a game high 96 yards on two catches with a touchdown. Julien Valentin added 39 yards on seven carries to lead the team on the ground with Dennis McMillian adding 31 yards on four attempts.
Qudarius Ford, who is returning after missing all of last season with a knee injury, and Cordivido Grice were each credited with seven tackles to lead the blue team. E.J. May added five stops and two interceptions as well. Bryson James, Tyrell Pearson and Enrique Williams all had five tackles as well with Pearson adding an interception as well.
Quarterback on the Red team combined to go 17-of-27 for 160 yards with another 144 yards gained on the ground. Grant Powell went 5-of-9 for 41 yards with an additional 40 yards on the ground to lead the Red team. Kolt Peavey was 5-of-7 for 41 yards while Ross Metheny was 7-of-11 for 78 yards. Corey Waldon and Jereme Jones both caught three passes each with Jones leading the Red team with 42 yards and a touchdown.
Eric Miller led the Red team with six tackles with David Hawkins adding five and an interception. Ceasare Johnson, who is returning after missing all last season with a blood clot issue, also added five tackles. Desmond LaVelle added four tackles. Romelle Jones was the only player to be credited with a sack after bursting through the offensive line like a madman.
“I thought it was the best spring we’ve ever had from start to finish,” head coach Joey Jones said after the game. “What I noticed today more than anything is we have more players who can make plays. As we started subbing twos and threes into the game a lot of them were making plays whereas in the past sometimes they weren’t. We have more depth. I thought the offense played fast, which was good, but the defense was a little hamstrung because we made them line up in one formation and they were in one coverage the whole time.
But that’s okay, no one will remember the score two years from now.”
Brandon Bridge will definitely factor into the starting quarterback hunt this fall if he continues to work on his accuracy. His height and speed bring another dimension to the team that could really be advantage this season. Jay Jones and the other additions to the backfield also add to the teams ability to make plays.
Also look for the defensive line to cause headaches this season as they have depth and playmakers. Romelle Jones will definitely factor into that this season now that he seems to be fully healthy again.
But the team will also have a fresh group of players coming in for camp this fall. Players like Kaleb Blanchard and others could come in and possibly contribute early in spots that could use more depth or more playmakers.
This will definitely be an interesting season to watch. The offense is really maturing in Coach Matthews system and Coach Sherrer’s defense, although early in installing, is going well with the players.
The season is set to begin on Thursday, August 29th when the Jags host Southern Utah at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.