April 26, 2008

GALLERY

Bronx, N.Y. - In the annual Fordham University Spring football game, the offense dished it up so it was the defense who had to serve it out. Using an unconventional scoring system the Fordham offense defeated the defense, 44-40, on Murphy Field. The win was for more than bragging rights as the losing team had to serve the winning team at the post game lunch.

"This was a great way to wrap up the spring practice session," said head coach Tom Masella. "Because we were banged up we couldn't play a traditional spring game so we came up with this, which gave everybody a chance to play. I was pleased with the play on both sides of the ball and liked how the defense came back in the second half."

The scoring system was set up to give each team a chance to score. The offense netted three points for each touchdown or play that gained 25 yards or more and one point for each first down or defensive penalty. As for the defense, they scored three points for a score or a turnover and tallied one point for forcing the offense to punt, recording a play that resulted in a loss of yardage, a pass break up or any offensive penalty.

The offense came out quickly, picking up three points on the first play from scrimmage as quarterback John Skelton hit his brother, Stephen, with a 31-yards pass completion. Three plays later, the defense was hoping to pick up a point as the offense faced a third and six from the 40 but Skelton picked up the first down by connecting with Richard Rayborn on a ten-yard gain.

Later in the drive, Skelton again hooked up with Rayborn on a 14-yard pass that put the ball on the two. After the offense gave the defense a point with an illegal formation penalty, Skelton found Tommy Martin in the end zone for a touchdown.

The second offense also found the end zone as quarterback Clayton Busch led the charge, completing three of four passes on the drive while also rushing for 13 yards. The big play of the drive came on a third down and 13 play when Busch completed a short pass to Gerard Rizzo who turned it into a 22-yard gain, putting the ball on the 17. On first and goal from the three, Ryan Darcey sacked Busch to put the ball back on the nine but two plays later, Busch found Jeff Van Note in the end zone for a score.

Nicholas Magiera then got the defense back on the board, recording two sacks on the next possession and holding the offense to a three-and-out as the defense gained five points.

The offense was able to drive down to the eleven on the next series where Adam Danko missed a 29-yard field goal attempt. Sean Mara quarterbacked the drive, completing four of five passes for 17 yards while Darryl Robinson gained 15 yards on four carries. The offense then took over with just about two minutes left in the half and Skelton drove them to pay dirt, completing six of eight passes on the drive for 59 yards, including a two-yard touchdown toss to Miller that gave the offense a 32-21 lead at the break. The offense converted two third down plays in the drive, the first a Skelton pass to Isiejah Allen, who broke numerous tackles to pick up 23 yards, and the second a Skelton toss to Miller that picked up 14 yards.

On the first possession of the second half, the defense picked up six points as Klugy Matherin recovered a fumbled handoff and took it 56 yards to the end zone.

Busch then moved the offense downfield on the next series, completing all four of his pass attempts for 24 yards but the drive stalled at the 38 when Ryan Darcey sacked Busch on third down.

The defense forced the offense into three-and-outs on the next two possessions, with the defense picking up a couple of extra points as Mara was sacked on third down and Robinson was caught in the backfield by Michael Hickman, cutting the offensive lead to three, 37-34.

Busch helped the offense to a pair of points on the next drive, picking up two first downs, the first on an 11-yard pass completion to Martin and the second on a six-yard toss to Michael Shorter. But the defense gained three points in the series to make it a two-point game, 39-37.

Mara gave the offense some breathing room on the first play of the next series, finding Van Note deep down the right side for a 43-yard gain, putting the ball on the 37 and garnering three points for the offense. But the drive would stall there and the defense trailed by four, 42-38.

Adnan Van Dyck gave the defense a point with a pass break-up on the first play of the next series but the offense would gain a pair of first downs to ice the game and send the defense off to prepare to serve lunch to the offense. At the lunch, the 2007 squad also received their 2007 Patriot League championship rings.

"The spring gave us a chance to see where we're strong and where we may need some help," said Masella. "I think that if we play the way we're capable of playing that we could fight for the Patriot League title again in 2008. But it won't be easy as there are a lot of quality teams in the League."

Skelton led the quarterbacks, completing 12 of his 14 passes for 135 yards while Busch completed 12 of 17 passes for 90 yards. Miller led all receivers with five catches for 42 yards and two scores while Rayborn added four receptions for 36 yards and Shorter had three for 26 yards.

Robinson led all ball carriers with 57 yards on 15 rushes while Nnamdi Onyeabor gained 52 yards on ten carries.

Magiera paced the defense with seven total tackles, including three sacks, while Darcey made five total tackles, including two for a loss and one sack.

Fordham Spring Game

April 26, 2008 - Murphy Field

Rushing (Attempts-Yards):

Darryl Robinson 15-57, Nnamdi Onyeabor 10-52, Clayton Busch 5-25, Frank Curry 3-3, Xavier Martin 2-0, Sean Mara 1-0, T.J. Jordan 1-(-8), John Skelton 2-(-15).

Passing (Completion-Attempts-Interceptions-Yards):

John Skelton 12-14-0-135, Clayton Busch 12-17-0-90, Sean Mara 7-13-0-68, T.J. Jordan 3-4-0-24.

Receiving (Receptions-Yards):

Patrick Miller 5-42, Richard Rayborn 4-36, Michael Shorter 3-26, David Moore 3-8, Tommy Martin 3-5, Jeff Van Note 2-52, Stephen Skelton 1-31, Isiejah Allen 1-23, Gerard Rizzo 1-22, Nnamdi Onyeabor 1-4, Bo Marchand 1-2.

Tackles (Solo-A-For Loss-Sack-PBU):

Nicholas Magiera 6-1-0-0-3, Ryan Darcey 4-1-2-1-0, Jamal Haruna 4-1-0-0-0, David Mendez 4-1-0-0-0, Michael Shackelford 4-0-0-0-0, Mark Meehan 4-0-0-0-0, Michael Hickman 2-3-2-0-0, Darzell Wright 4-0-1-0-0, Craig Stevens 1-2-1-0-0, Joe Evans 2-0-0-0-1, Matt Donahue 1-1-0-0-0, Samuel Pitts 1-1-0-0-0, Adnan Van Dyck 1-1-1-0-1, Ryan Mehra 1-1-0-0-0, Brandon Brown 1-0-0-0-0, Kelvin Colbert 1-0-0-0-0, Bryson Wilson 1-0-0-0-0.