Aug. 15, 2007

Bronx, N.Y. - The offense came up with some big plays but it was the defense which came away with the prize as the Fordham defense edged the offense in the first scrimmage of camp on Tuesday night on Jack Coffey Field. The game was played with a modified scoring system which rewarded the defense for stops and turnovers. Besides winning bragging rights until the next scrimmage, the defense was presented with a post game spread of pizza and chicken wings while the offense had to rely on snacks.

The situational scrimmage opened with a couple of kickoffs, with each being returned approximately 40 yards.

The first and second offense then lined up on its own 35 and had a series of first down plays with the defense holding the offense for the first eight plays before quarterback John Skelton connected with wideout Mark Meehan for a 14-yard gain on the ninth play.

Later in the series, the next offense had a little bit better luck as freshman running back Quasand Lewis gained 17 yards on the first play from scrimmage and later in the sequence, freshman quarterback Clayton Busch connected with Jeff Van Note for a ten-yard pick up.

Later in the scrimmage, the offense lined up on its own 35 in third-and-short situations and on the first play, freshman running back Darryl Robinson gained 50 yards before being caught by Isiejah Allen.

Two plays later, the offense picked up another first down when Nnamdi Onyeabor rambled for an 18-yard gain.

After the defense held the offense on the next three plays, Adam Danko kicked off to freshman Xavier Martin on the five and Martin took the return down the left side for a 95-yard touchdown return.

The offense then set up with a first down on its own 35 with the first defense holding the first offense to just three plays. The second offense had some better luck as on the second play from scrimmage, quarterback T.J. Jordan connected with Jason Caldwell on a 58-yard scoring strike. The ball was under thrown but Caldwell made a nice play coming back on the ball and taking it into the endzone.

The first offense responded on the next series when Skelton faked a handoff to the right and rolled to his left, finding a wide open Cody Kritzer who took the short pass 70 yards to pay dirt.

The scrimmage then turned to the two-minute drill with neither offense managing to score. The second offense came close, with Jordan moving the squad from its own 35 across midfield to the defense's 35 but he threw two incomplete passes, including a Hail Mary as time expired.

The defense came up big on the second play of the second half as Matt Loucks intercepted a Skelton pass and then held the offense to three plays on the next series, with freshman linebacker Clifton Stuckey coming up with a pair of tackles.

The format was then switched to a third down offense with the first team offense picking up two first downs, one on the first play, a ten-yard pass from Skelton to Meehan, and another later in the series when Skelton hooked up with Asa Lucas for a 27-yard gain. But the defense was also strong, sacking the quarterback twice.

Next up was Red Zone offense in which the offense got off to a rocky start with Allen intercepting a Skelton pass in the first series and freshman linebacker Sam Pitts sacking Jordon in the second for a nine yards loss that led to a 42-yard field goal attempt from Danko which was blocked.

But the offense then went to work on the ground, with Martin gaining nine yards on the first play and then scoring later in the drive on a two-yard rush.

The second offense then came on and drove for a quick score. Robinson used a 14-yard rush to put the ball on the three where Jordan took it in on the next play.

Skelton then threw his second touchdown pass of the night in the ensuing series, finding Jon Arnold with a five-yard toss.

On the last offensive series of regulation, the defense held the offense in check, with the big play being an Andre Delaire sack on third and goal which pushed the ball back to the 26. Lewis then picked up 15 yards to set up a 29-yard field goal from Danko.

The squads then went into an overtime period where Skelton threw two incomplete passes from the four and Danko came on to boot his third three-pointer of the night, a 22-yarder.

The second offense also wasn't able to find the endzone in overtime but Danko bailed them out with a 44-yard field goal on the final play of the evening.

Offensively, Skelton completed 13 of 29 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns while Busch was a perfect six-for-six, picking up 37 yards through the air.

Meehan led all receivers with five catches for 70 yards while Lucas had three receptions for 41 yards and Van Note hauled in three balls for 19 yards.

Ten different running backs recorded a carry for the offense, led by Lewis, who rushed eleven times for 54 yards and one touchdown. Robinson gained 71 yards on four carries, bolstered by the 50-yard gain, while Nnamdi Onyeabor picked up 27 yards on three carries.

Freshman defensive back Jamal Haruna led the defense with five total tackles, two solo, while freshman linebacker Isa Abdul-Quddas recorded four solo stops. Freshman linebacker Michael Hickman made four tackles, three solo, and Allen added four tackles and he picked off a pass and recovered a fumble.

On special teams, 2006 All-American punter Ben Dato kicked three times, averaging 42.3 yards/kick, while Danko converted three of his four field goal attempts and four of his five PATs.

"Like most first scrimmages there was some good, some bad and some ugly," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "The good is that we are working hard with lots of enthusiasm. But we still have a lot of hard work in front of us to get ready for September 1st."

The Rams will have their second scrimmage of the 2007 camp on Saturday, August 18th at 2:00 p.m.

Fordham Football Scrimmage August 14, 2007 - Jack Coffey Field

Rushing (Attempts-Yards): Darryl Robinson 4-71, Quasand Lewis 11-54, Nnamdi Onyeabor 4-27, Jonte Coven 3-18, Clayton Busch 3-11, Xavier Martin 6-5, Jon Arnold 1-2.

Passing (Completion-Attempts-Interceptions-Yards): Jeff Skelton 13-29-2-150, Clayton Busch 6-6-0-37, T.J. Jordan 4-11-0-79.

Receiving (Receptions-Yards): Mark Meehan 5-70, Asa Lucas 3-41, Jeff Van Note 3-19, Jon Arnold 3-13, Cody Kritzer 2-72, Jason Caldwell 2-53, Gerard Rizzo 1-14, Darryl Robinson 1-5.

Interceptions: Isiejah Allen, Matt Loucks

Tackles (UA-A-Sacks-For Loss-PBU): Jamal Haruna 2-3-0-0-0, Isa Abdul-Quddas 4-0-0-0-0, Michael Hickman 3-1-1-0-0, Isiejah Allen 2-2-0-0-1, Sam Pitts 2-2-1-1-0, Kelvin Colbert 2-0-0-1-0, Frank Curry 2-0-0-1-0, Andre Delaire 2-0-1-0-0, Jay Jackson 2-0-0-1-0, Clifton Stuckey 2-0-0-0-0, James Crockett 1-1-0-0-0, Tommy Martin 1-1-0-0-1, Ryan Mehra 1-1-0-0-0, Bryson Wilson 0-2-0-0-0, Brandon Brown 1-0-0-0-0, Greg DeMarco 1-0-0-1-0, Ahmed Haruna 0-1-0-0-0, Matt Loucks 1-0-0-0-1, William Quan 1-0-0-0-0, Craig Stevens 1-0-1-0-0, Darzell Wright 1-0-0-1-0.