Black Defeats Orange in Spring Game 24-21
The University of Findlay football program held their annual spring game on Saturday, April 20 at Donnell Stadium. The Black team ended up with the victory, defeating the Orange team by a score of 24-21.
Junior quarterback Devontae Payne quickly got the Black team going with a 14-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Nathan Morris at the 9:08 mark of the first quarter. He then connected on a 98-yard scoring strike to junior wide receiver Lloyd Henry a few minutes later as the team raced out to a 14-0 lead at the 6:26 mark of the opening period.
Red-shirt freshman running back Ross Franklin got the White team on the board with only 1:09 to play in the first quarter, scoring on a six-yard run. The team missed the extra point however making the score 14-6.
The Black team would then tack on two more scores in the second quarter as sophomore kicker Alex Moser hit a 20-yard field, which was followed by a nine-yard touchdown pass from Payne to Morris at the 3:57 mark of the first half.
Trailing 24-6 at the break, the White team cut the deficit to ten when junior quarterback Verlon Reed found sophomore wide receiver Tim Szabo for a 17-yard scoring strike. Reed then hit senior wide receiver DeAndre Sutton for the two-point conversion to make the score 24-14.
Sophomore quarterback Jesse Slone would then add a one-yard touchdown run with only 5:34 remaining in the game for the final margin.
Payne completed 8-of-11 passing attempts for 185 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Morris caught six passes for 110 yards and two scores while Henry had four receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown.
Junior quarterback Mitchell Faine added 98 yards through the air for the Black team, completing 7-of-11 passing attempts to go along with one interception while sophomore running back Brandon VanArsdale had a team-high 29 rushing yards on seven attempts.
Reed threw for 91 yards and a score for the Orange team as he completed 7-of-12 passing attempts, but was intercepted once.
Slone completed 6-of-12 attempts for 76 yards and senior wide receiver Seth White had four receptions for 68 yards.
Red-shirt freshman running back Ross Franklin led the squad with 16 yards rushing on seven carries while senior tight end Jaryd Brown caught three passes for 36 yards.
Defensively, junior defensive end Josh Lee had a big day for the Orange team as he accumulated ten tackles, three tackles for a loss and two sacks in the game.
Junior defensive back Harold Jones-Quartey and red-shirt freshman linebacker Brad Fenton each picked off a pass as well.
Junior defensive back Brice Womack and junior defensive end Kevin Brewton led the Black team with five tackles apiece. Womack also added an interception while Brewton racked up three sacks.
Senior defensive lineman Alex Vance recorded two sacks as well for the team.
Before the spring game began, the Oilers hosted their annual alumni flag football game. The Orange team came away with a 25-6 win and former running back Joel McDaniel earned his third MVP award in the game for his efforts in lead the Orange to a victory.