Football Wraps Up Spring With Annual Blue & White Scrimmage

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The Rams signal the end of spring practice on Saturday with four quarters of simulated game action.

The Rams squared off with each other in the annual Blue & White scrimmage at Meade Stadium.

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View Photo Gallery From Saturday's Blue & White Scrimmage

KINGSTON, R.I. - The Rhode Island football team capped the spring season with its annual Blue & White scrimmage on Saturday at Meade Stadium. The offense and defense went after each other in simulated game situations for four un-timed quarters on a beautiful Saturday afternoon for football.

The Rams will finish off the spring with their annual Autism Walk on Sunday starting at 10:00 a.m. in Goddard Park.

The team also handed out its annual Spring Practice Awards, listed below:

"I Like To Practice" Award
Offense - Antal Keszthelyi
Defense - Scott McKinnie

GATA Award
Offense - Mark Stolte
Defense - Dana Hart

TEAM Award
Offense - Fran Dempsey
Defense - Mike Lane

Make The Play Award
Offense - Jerell Jones
Defense - Raji El-Amin

Biggest Surprise Award
Offense - Anthony Ferrer
Defense - Robert Meredith

Win On/Off The Field Award
Offense - Damien Gresko
Defense - Larry Brantley

Start Fast/Finish Strong Award
Offense - Tim Allen
Defense - Adrian Owen

Some quick highlights from Saturday's scrimmage:
A halfback option pass by Rodney Mitchell thrown just out of the reach of Shawn Leonard on the first play of the scrimmage...a fumbled hand-off on the second play, narrowly recovered by Derek Cassidy...a nice 25-yard Cassidy completion to Jerell Jones for a first down...a roll-out completion by Cassidy to Tolbert Evans for a 12-yard gain...a hard-fought 14-yard rush by Anthony Ferrer...Marc Toni making a tackle in the backfield for a loss...an elusive Cassidy running for nine yards to the left side...Cassidy drawing the defense offsides on first-and-goal from the eight...Ferrer punching it in from two yards out.

Chris Dickerson rushing for 15 yards on a nice reverse call...Mike Lane sacking John Butler for a loss on third an long...the defense stopping the offense cold on fourth down...newcomer Matt Patterson intercepting a tipped pass in the secondary to foil a third-down attempt...Sean Scott just getting his feet down in-bounds after hauling in a D.J. Stefkovich pass for a short gain...John Pitt-Coombs rambling over 50 yards after breaking through up the middle before getting tripped up on the two yardline...Pitt-Coombs getting the ball back on 4th-and-goal and punching it in...red-shirt freshman Pedro Belinchon converting his first PAT attempt.

L.T. Brantley sacking John Butler to force 3rd-and-long...Greg Wicks coming into the game and completing a short pass on his first attempt...Marc Toni sacking Wicks to force fourth down...D.J. Stefkovich completing a nice short out to Tolbert Evans...Jerell Jones hauling in a great catch and holding on despite getting flipped over and landing hard on his shoulder...Marc Toni again getting to the quarterback for a sack on third down...Tim Allen picking up a sizeable gain down the left side after a smart audible by Derek Cassidy for a first down...a Cassidy completion to a leaping Shawn Leonard in the endzone for a 15-yard TD...a 37-yard field goal by Bryan Giannecchini splitting the uprights...D.J. Stefkovich hooking up with Ryan Jefferson on a 25-yard TD pass...John Butler turning a broken play into a 17-yard gain down the right side...a goal-line fumble by Anthony Ferrer that is quickly fallen on in the endzone by a quick-thinking Miguel Prata

Nick Levy taking down Stefkovich for a sack and a loss...Stefkovich recovering to hit a wide-open Rodney Mitchell for a 25-yard TD...Pedro Belinchon hitting his fourth extra point of the day...a fiery Adrien Owen psyching up the defense...Ryan Jefferson pulling down a Greg Wicks pass for a solid eight-yard gain...Matt Urban knocking the ball loose from Sean Scott in the endzone after a hard hit...Antonio Johnson intercepting Greg Wicks as the defense starts to tighten up in the fourth quarter.

Quotes from Rhode Island Head Coach Tim Stowers:

On the afternoon in general:
"I thought our team played with a lot of enthusiasm today. It was good to play in front of a nice crowd of fans and also make it through the day with no injuries."

"There were many different things that we have improved on this spring and we are looking forward to August camp."

On the play of junior quarterback Derek Cassidy:
"I thought Derek Cassidy had good scrimmage and showed how much he has improved throwing the ball. Today, we tried to put all the quarterbacks in situations where they would have the opportunity to throw the ball under pressure and I think they all responded pretty well."

On the defense:
"We have shown a lot of progress on defense but I am still a little concerned about our linebackers. Hopefully all the new defensive players that will be coming in this fall will help us improve in that area."

"I thought Dana Hart had a good spring as a pass rusher, and made a lot of plays today. Raji El-Amin also had a solid preseason and showed why he was an all-conference selection last fall."

On special teams:
"There is some concern about who will take over the placekicking duties. Pedro Belinchon made some good kicks today. Bryan Giannecchini, who was an all-conference punter last season, also showed us some good things today as well."

On the running game:
"Anthony Ferrer was one of our bigger surprises on offense. He has gotten a half a step quicker since the fall and hopefully will continue to improve another half step over the summer. He gives us a lot of depth at b-back."

"Joe Casey sat out the scrimmage today, but was able to take part in several drills this spring after recovering from shoulder surgery in the off-season."

Saturday, Nov 14

Football
at Maine
Orono, Maine
12:00 PM