GALLERY

Aug. 23, 2008

Bronx, N.Y. - After almost two weeks of practice, the Fordham football squad squared off against one another today on Jack Coffey Field with the offense and defense turning in some solid performances.

Leading the offense was junior quarterback John Skelton who completed 14 of 30 passes for 133 yards and one touchdown while his brother, Stephen Skelton, caught a game-high nine passes for 44 yards.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Andre Delaire notched a pair of sacks while freshman lineman Patrick McGee recorded four tackles, including one for a loss and one sack.

On special teams, freshman punter Cameron Dean averaged 37.5 yards per punt on ten punts and senior Kennith Thompson returned a kickoff 63 yards.

The first offense matched up with the first defense for the initial series of the day with the offense moving the ball from their own 25 to the defense's 43 where they where forced to punt. John Skelton completed three of six passes on the drive for 23 yards, the big play a third down and nine completion to David Moore that gained 13 yards.

The second offense then went at it with the second defense as freshman running back Darryl Whiting got things off on the right foot for the offense, gaining 20 yards on the first play of the series. Two plays later, Nnamdi Onyeabor picked up 14 yards on a rush to put the ball on the offense's 40. A nine-yard gain from Whiting and a 14-yard pass from T.J. Jordan to junior Jason Caldwell moved the ball down to the 17. The offense would eventually get down to the nine where Adam Danko missed on a 25-yard field goal.

It took just one play for the first offense to score on the next series as sophomore running back Xavier Martin took a handoff off the right side and raced untouched 80 yards to the end zone.

The defense held the offense on the ensuing possession before the second offense moved from their own 37 to the defense's 12 where Nnamdi Onyeabor took it in for a score. Whiting gained 26 yards on three carries on the drive while freshman Jamir Livingston had a 25-yard gain during the drive.

The defense then forced the offense to punt on the next five series, the last three holding the offense to three-and-outs. The second series was kept alive when the offense lined up to punt after being held to three plays but Dean instead threw a pass to Zac Dayton who gained 18 yards to give the offense a first down on the 45.

Later in the scrimmage, the offense took over on the defense's 37 and after a one-yard gain by Whiting, John Skelton hooked up with a wide open Asa Lucas who took it in for a score.

The defense again dug in after the score, forcing five straight three-and-outs by the offense before the scrimmage turned into a two-minute drill. The offense took over on its own 35 with 1:10 left and had to score a touchdown. John Skelton connected on three straight passes for 34 yards and, after an incompletion, found Michael Shorter with a 13-yard gain to put the ball on the defense's 18. The offense moved to the nine on the next play as the defense was whistled for pass interference but that was as close as they would get as Skelton threw four straight incompletions.

The next scenario was 45 seconds on the clock with the offense needing a field goal. Skelton completed four of five passes, two of those to Stephen Skelton, to put the ball on the defense's 23 where Danko booted a 40-yard field goal as time expired.

After a short break, some of the newer Rams saw some action with freshman quarterbacks Douglas Papy and Brian Taaffe coming on to lead the offense. Taaffe was able to pick up a score for the offense, finding Caldwell down the right side and Caldwell broke numerous tackles to score on a 51-yard scoring play.

The Rams will next scrimmage Wagner College on Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. on Jack Coffey Field before opening the 2008 season by hosting the University of Rhode Island on Saturday, September 6th at 6:00 p.m.

Fordham Football Scrimmage August 23, 2008 - Jack Coffey Field

Rushing (Att.-Yds):

Xavier Martin 3-85, Darryl Whiting 9-58, Nnamdi Onyeabor 6-39, Quasand Lewis 28, Jamir Livingston 8-15.

Passing (Att.-Comp.-Yds.-Int.-TD):

John Skelton 30-14-133-0-1, T.J. Jordan 17-11-42-0, Douglas Papy 7-3-35-1-0, Brian Taaffe 3-1-49-0-1, Cameron Dean 1-1-18-0-0.

Receiving (Recpt.-Yds):

Stephen Skelton 9-44, Jason Caldwell 6-77, David Moore 4-14, Patrick Miller 2-16, Michael Shorter 2-19, Asa Lucas 1-36, Nnamdi Onyeabor 1-10, Quasand Lewis 1-8.

Tackles (Solo-Asst.-TFL-Sacks-PBU):

Patrick McGee 4-0-1-1-0, Andre Delaire 3-0-0-2-0, Michael Hickman 3-0-0-0-1, William Quan 3-0-0-0-0, Jay Jackson 3-0-0-0-1, Brandon Brown 2-0-0-0-1, Kelvin Colbert 2-0-0-0-0, Brian Tracz 2-0-0-0-0, Isaiah Leake 1-2-0-0-0, Adnan Van Dyck 0-2-0-0-0, Matt Loucks 1-0-0-0-1, Kevin Carter 1-0-0-0-1, Ryan Darcey 1-0-1-0-0, Greg DeMarco 1-0-0-0-0, Thomas Lloyd 1-0-0-1-0, Mark Meehan 1-0-0-0-0, Jock Payten 1-0-0-0-0, Clarke Munson 1-0-0-0-0, Craig Stevens 1-0-0-0-0, Kennith Thompson 1-0-0-0-2, Darzell Wright 1-0-1-0-0.

Interceptions:

Michael Shackelford 1.