Senior cornerback Evan Allen-Gessesse recovered a fumble with 5:15 left in Illinois States Annual Red-White Scrimmage and earned six points for the turnover to claim a lead that the Redbird defense would never relinquish that gave White a 43-31 victory Saturday at Hancock Stadium.
As rain drizzled throughout the 45-minute scrimmage, the weather catered to the aggressive style of play for the defense which held Red to 8-for-22 passing. The White squad scored 15 points by forcing Red into five three and outs and had a pair of turnovers with an interception by James Temple that resulted in 12 points.
With the offense wearing red and the defense in white, a unique scoring system was established to award both sides of the ball. The offense earned traditional point totals for touchdowns (six points), field goals (three points) and PATs (one or two points). The Redbird offense was also awarded one point for each first down and two tallies on a gain of 25 yards or more.
For every turnover the defense forced, Red earned six points, plus an additional seven if it was returned for a touchdown. The defense was also awarded points for three and outs (three points), quarterback sacks (two points) and tackles for loss (one point).
Head coach Denver Johnson was pleased with what he witnessed, but wished the weather had cooperated.
I hated that the weather was like it was, Johnson said. I was hoping that we would have a nice day, because we have had some beautiful weather (during spring camp). When it gets nasty, cold and sloppy like this, I think it naturally tends to put a little bit of a downer on it. Nonetheless, I really believe that we have a chance to have a good football team. That is certainly not a guarantee, but I like this football team.
The Red team scored a pair of touchdowns. With 32:06 on the clock, senior quarterback Yance Vaughan found Mike Larson for a 19-yard touchdown pass. Five minutes later, senior tailback Demetrus Johnson sprinted 60-yards up the middle for a touchdown. Vaughan finished the day throwing for 95 yards on 5-for-13 passing and won the praise of his head coach.
Yance continues to prove to me that we can win with him, Johnson said. If we had to play a game today, Yance would be our guy and from what Ive seen I think hes going to be pretty hard to beat in the fall.
Larson led all receivers with 61 yards on a pair of catches, while Johnson rushed for a team-high 83 yards on nine carries. White was led defensively by two-time Gateway Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year Boomer Grigsbys five tackles. Jesse Caesar and Niall Campbell tallied four apiece.
The Red-White game concludes spring camp and the Redbirds will open fall camp on August 7, to begin preparing for the season opener against St. Xavier, at Hancock Stadium on September 2.
