VALDOSTA — VALDOSTA — Valdosta State’s football team wrapped up spring practice with the annual spring game on Saturday at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
Russ Callaway’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Dean with 2:18 left in the game gave the White team a 15-12 victory over the Black team in a down-to-the-wire game.
The White team was trailing 12-9 and facing third-and-22 at the Black 33 when it decided to go deep. Callaway heaved a long pass for the end zone, and Dean got behind a defender and hauled in the pass for the touchdown.
“That was a beautiful throw. That was a big-time play. We ran that same play in practice on Friday, and hit it for a touchdown, and today, they came back and did the same thing,” VSU head coach David Dean said.
The touchdown culminated an 11-play, 52-yard drive that saw the White team convert twice on fourth down, with Callaway finding Gerald Ford both times. White looked like it was in trouble after Callaway was sacked for a 12-yard loss, but two plays later, he found Dean for the winning score.
Callaway completed 20 of 31 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns in the game.
It was an intense, competitive game, with players from both teams, and on both sides of the ball, making plays.
“I was very pleased with our intensity,” Coach Dean said. “I thought that we got after each other pretty good. You could tell there was a lot of enthusiasm out there, which was exciting to see.
And the teams stayed healthy.
“No injuries. That’s the biggest plus we took out of this,” Coach Dean said.
The game was, for the most part, a defensive battle. There were several sacks from both sides, including three from White defensive end Schneider Cineus.
White scored the first points of the game in the opening seconds of the second quarter, when Bryan Elkins kicked a 37-yard field goal to give his team a 3-0 lead.
The only touchdown of the first half came when the Black team drove 78 yards in six plays later in the second quarter. Quarterback Austen Roberts completed 5 of 6 passes on the drive, to five different receivers. On first-and-10 from the White 22, Roberts fired a strike over the middle to P.J. Katz, who caught the ball just across the goal line for the touchdown. Justin Kraemer’s extra point gave Black a 7-3 lead.
White retook the lead with a touchdown on the opening possession of the third quarter. On second-and-2 from the Black 44, Callaway threw a flanker screen to Gerald Ford, who caught the ball, got a block and ran down the sideline into the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point was no good, but White led 9-7.
Near the end of the third quarter, Daniel Anderson kicked a 48-yard field goal, and put Black back on top, 10-9.
On its next possession, Black drove all the way to the White 1, but on fourth-and-goal, the White defense stopped Ronnye Nelson short of the goal line.
Two plays later, Black linebacker Chris Pope sacked White quarterback Brett Whitmire in the end zone for a safety, increasing Black’s lead to 12-9.
But on White’s next possession, Callaway drove his team down the field, then hit Jackson Dean with the game-winning touchdown.
Black had one last possession after White’s go-ahead touchdown, but the White defense forced Black to turn the ball over on downs with 37.4 seconds left in the game, sealing the victory for White.
The teams rotated quarterbacks, giving all of their signal callers some snaps. Callaway and Jimmy Coy, considered the frontrunners to earn the starting quarterback job, both played well at times, as did some of VSU’s younger quarterbacks. Callaway completed 20 of 31 passes for 198 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Coy completed 12 of 19 passes for 89 yards. Austen Roberts was 8 for 10 for 78 yards and a touchdown, Justin Roberts was 4 of 6 for 26 yards, Whitmire completed 4 of 7 passes for 25 yards and Stephen Warren was 2 for 3 for 12 yards.
“I thought our quarterbacks played well,” Coach Dean said. “They made good decisions, they controlled the tempo of the game very well, which we asked them to do.”
Afterwards, Coach Dean said he still wasn’t ready to name a starting quarterback, but that the VSU coaching staff would go back, evaluate the film and decide on a starter in the near future.
Before the spring game, teams from Moody Air Force Base and the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany competed in a flag football game at Bazemore-Hyder.
Both the Black and the White teams had honorary head coaches with military backgrounds. Col. Jeff Hooks of the United States Marine Corps, a former VSU player, coached the White team, while retired U.S. Air Force Major Whit Chappell, who is now VSU’s director of athletic advancement, was the honorary coach of the Black team.
With spring practice over, the Blazers will take next week off for spring practice, but will resume their offseason workouts when they return.
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Discussion
White wins VSU spring football game, 15-12
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