Sept. 27, 2008
Norfolk, Va. - Playing in front of 3,241 fans Saturday night in their first public scrimmage, the ODU football Monarchs got a quick strike from the offensive unit before the defense took control for the remainder of the game. The offense ran 80 plays (including 9 punts and 10 field goals) from various positions on the field during the controlled scrimmage, but managed just 264 yards of total offense for an average of 3.3 yards per play. A crowd of 3,241 was in attendance.
It appeared that the offense would have a big night when on the fourth play from scrimmage Jamar Parham broke a tackle with a spin move and raced 51 yards for a touchdown. Unfortunately for Parham he would manage just nine more yards on his remaining five carries.
The next five offensive drives saw the Monarch defense force two three-and-outs, while also stopping the offense twice on fourth down.
It was the third and fourth string quarterbacks that finally helped the offense find somewhat of a rhythm. Dan Pitts did his damage through the air, connecting with Reid Evans on gains of nine and eight yards and hitting Carnell Perkins for 16 more. And running from the shotgun Fred Credle reeled off an 11-yard run on a crucial third down, before coming up short on third-and-3 from the defense's 28-yard line. From there walk-on Charlie Grandfield, a former soccer player from the United Kingdom, nailed a 45-yard field goal to cap the 11-play drive.
The ensuing drive produced the first turnover of the night when starting from his own 5-yard line, quarterback Tommy Reamon rolled right and forced a throw that was picked off by linebacker Michael R. Williams. Later on in the scrimmage Reamon was picked off again on what appeared to be a miscommunication with his receiver. Nevertheless, Jake Sweedyk intercepted the ball in the flat and cruised untouched for the 80-yard score.
The scrimmage ended with a situational possession with the offense getting the ball at the defense's 7-yard line and hypothetically trailing by five and needing a touchdown to win. One play was all they needed as Bobby Cooper tossed a strike in between cornerback Ricky Nichols and safety DeAnthony Jones, right into the hands of Evans for his second touchdown of the night.
Nikita Logan and Eric Watts led the defense with eight and five tackles respectively, while sacks were turned in by Chad King and Corey Ellick.
Offensively the Monarchs rushed 39 times for 121 yards, 51 coming on Parham's opening touchdown. The quarterbacks completed 18-of-41 passes for 143 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Although the weren't facing a rush for the defense, the Monarch kickers made 6-of-10 field goals with two misses coming as a result of bad snaps from center. Drew Hareza had the longest field goal of the day at 47 yards. Punter Jonathan Plisco averaged 43.2 yards on five punts with a long of 58 yards.