April 21, 2012
Post-Game Recap:
NORFOLK, Va. -- Nate Ong (Escondido, Calif.) found one of his favorite targets, Larry Pinkard (Washington, D.C.), to help the White Team, comprised of the No. 1 defense and No. 2 offense, to a 23-20 victory over the Blue Team of the No. 1 offense and No. 2 defense at Saturday's spring football game.
Ong passed for 210 yards and two touchdowns completing 17 of his 24 passes for the White Team, while Taylor Heinicke (Atlanta, Ga.) threw for 247 yards and a touchdown for Blue Team, completing 17 of his 32 throws.
Pinkard, ended the day with 121 yards receiving on seven catches for the White Team, while on the ground Colby Goodwyn collected 63 yards on 11 carries. For the Blue Team, Blair Roberts (Rochester, N.Y.) led the receivers with 82 yards on six receptions.
Defensively, Rodney Hunter (Miami, Fla.) of the White Team posted a game-high seven tackles (3 solo, 4 assisted), with Fred Credle (Chesapeake, Va.) and Xavier Duckett (Roanoke, Va.) making six tops for the Blue Team.
Paul Morant (Hampton, Va.) ran an interception back 53 yards for a touchdown to give his Blue Team squad a 10-0 lead at the close of first quarter action.
Scoring in the game started on the first drive of the afternoon as kicker Jarod Brown (Yorktown, Va.) connected on a 24-yard field goal for the Blue Team. Brown, who led the Monarchs in scoring in 2011 with 101 points, went 2-of-3 on his field goal attempts, including a 46-yard attempt that would give the Blue Team a 20-17 lead with under 30 seconds remaining in the game.
While Morant's touchdown interception gave the Blue Team a 10-0 lead after one quarter of play, the White Team lit up the scoreboard on their opening drive of the second quarter. Ong had a 33-yard pass to Jakwail Bailey (Haddonfield, N.J.) to get the White Team into the red zone and was followed by Aaron Evans (Newport News, Va.) running 12 yards into the end zone. Evans, who switched from defense to offense this spring, went on to carry the ball seven times for 25 yards.
After the Blue Team missed a 37-yard field goal, the White Team added another score on its next possession. Facing second and 18 at its own 42, Ong began to flip the field with a 21-yard pass and then a 33-yard pass to Pinkard getting his squad to within four yards of the goal line. Two players later, Marquel Thomas (Va. Beach, Va.), who registered the very first Monarch touchdown back in the inaugural 2009 campaign, caught a five-yard pass from Ong to give the White Team a 14-10 edge in the closing moments of the quarter.
The Blue Team had a chance to cut their deficit to one at the half, but a 45-yard field goal attempt went wide right.
The White Team tacked onto the lead in the opening drive of the third quarter with Dustin Burdick (Staunton, Va.) putting a 40-yard field goal attempt through the uprights.
Moments later the White Team had the ball back with co-captain Chris Burnette (Balitmore, Md.) on a fumble recovery.
Unable to convert, the Blue Team had possession for much of the final three minutes of the third stanza. Working their way downfield from their own seven, the Blue shirts made five first downs including a 23-yard pass to Tyree Lee (Hampton, Va.), 12- and 15-yard runs by Heinicke, an 11-yard reception by Chris Lovitt (Stafford, Va.), and a 23-yard pass to Roberts, who was stopped just short of the TD. Three plays later, Roberts caught the pass that tied the game at 17-17.
The White Team missed a 43-yard attempt to take back the late in the opening stages of the fourth and final quarter and the next two drives by each team resulting in no scoring.
With just :24 seconds remaining in the game, Brown's 46-yard field goal gave the Blue Team a 20-17 edge.
In the final drive of the game, starting at the Blue Team's 40, Ong hit Goodwyn for a 20-yard catch followed by a 17-yard pass to Pinkard. As time expired, Ong found Pinkard on a corner route for the 23-20 victory.
UP NEXT:
The Monarchs still have two practices left this spring and will focus their Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning drills towards the upcoming 2012 fall season.
OUR CONDOLENCES:
The Monarch family offers its condolences to the family of Richard Scherberger. Scherberger, 90, who was one of the last living members of the Norfolk Division Football Team as a defensive end, passed away this weekend.
STYLE GUIDE:
In case you didn't pick up one of the key tags at the Spring Game, here's the Monarch Football "Style Guide" for the fall.
Sept. 1 - vs. Duquesne - WEAR WHITE
Sept. 15 - vs. Campbell - WEAR SILVER
Sept. 22 - vs. New Hampshire (Family Weekend) - WEAR BLUE
Oct. 13 - vs. Villanova (Homecoming) - WEAR BLUE
Oct. 27 - vs. Delaware (Oyster Bowl) - WEAR SILVER
Nov. 10 - vs. William & Mary - WEAR BLACK