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 The scrimmage capped off a 15-practice spring session for the
Redbirds, who are led by fourth-year head coach Brock Spack. The
white team, which consisted of players from the first-team defensive
unit and the second-team offense, took it to the red squad,
consisting of the first-team offense and the second-team defense.
The white team took the early lead in the first quarter. Quarterback
Justin Lane threw an incomplete pass and was sacked to start the
drive, but then got into rhythm with passes completed to Milton
Colbert, Corey Shandrick and a 19-yard completion to Tyler
Finkbeiner that moved the ball down to the red team's 18-yard line.
The white team worked its running game in the following three
possessions with back-to-back carries from Chad Zastrow and a rush by
Nick Bellamy. Zastrow then scored the first touchdown of the day on
a 1-yard carry, and Matt Cotiguala kicked the extra point to put
the white team up 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Cameron Meredith led the offense for the red team on the next drive,
completing his first throw to Phil Dudley, but could not connect
with Tyrone Walker on a 10-yard pass on the next play. Shelby Harris
ended the drive with a sack for the white team. The defense
continued to pressure the quarterbacks, and Jeffery Wehmhoefer
captured another sack for the defense, forcing the white team to
punt after four plays.
After two scoreless quarters, the red team finally put points on the
board at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Meredith stepped in
for the red team and went 3 for 3 with a pair of completions to
Dudley and two carries by running back Cameron Hunt. Albert Sparks
grabbed a sack on the next play for a loss of 6 yards for the red
team to stop momentum momentarily, but Meredith regained composure
and connected with Dudley on a 34-yard grab to get the ball down to
the white team's 11-yard line.
The drive stalled there, as the defense forced a rush for no gain
by Hunt, an incompletion from Meredith, and Will Davis sacked
Meredith on third down to force a field-goal attempt. Nick Aussieker
kicked the 29-yard field goal through the uprights to give the red
team their first points and cut the lead to 7-3.
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From there, the white squad took over and scored 14 unanswered
points to secure the win. Right after the field goal, Adam
Pitter led the squad on a quick three-play scoring drive, capped
off on a 57-yard touchdown completion to Colbert to make the
score 14-3.
Following a three-and-out by Meredith and the red team, Lane
took the field on the red team 33-yard line and needed just two
plays to score. Lane completed an 18-yard pass to Scott Kuehn
before finding Shandrick for a 15-yard touchdown pass to cap off
the scoring on the day.
Pitters led all Redbird quarterbacks with 131 yards passing and
touchdown and Lane finished 7 for 10 for 79 with a touchdown.
Meredith finished the day 11 for 19 for 116 yards for the red
squad. Colbert led all receivers with four catches for 75 yards
with a score, and Shandrick added five grabs for 57 yards and
touchdown.
The defense was led by redshirt freshman Davis, who compiled
five tackles, including two sacks. Senior defensive end Nate
Palmer added three stops, all for loss, with two sacks, and Evan Frierson and also added a sack. Freshman linebacker Kevin
McGarry recorded the lone turnover of the day, when he picked
off a Lane pass and returned it 20 yards for an interception. In
all, the defense forced eight sacks, compiled 13
tackles for loss and held the offensive units to a loss of 9 yards
in rushing.
The Redbirds will return to the field Aug. 4, when
they begin fall training camp in preparation for the 2012 season
opener Sept. 1 against Dayton at Hancock Stadium.
[Text from
news release received from Michael Williams, Illinois State
University]
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