Vick and Randall were extra sharp in the early going, combining to complete 15 of their first 16 passes. On the White's first possession of the game, Vick fired a nifty TD pass to Ernest Wilford. From the 19-yard line, Wilford slanted to the inside, and Vick hit the lunging Wilford, who carried it just over the goal line for the only TD pass thrown on the day by either QB.

It wasn't truly the White's first possession, though; they had been forced to punt from their 27-yard line, and Nic Schmitt's 31-yard punt was muffed by the Maroon team. The White recovered at the Maroon 42-yard line and took it in from there in four plays, ending in the 19-yard TD.

The Maroon's only score, a 34-yard field goal by Carter Warley, came right after the White's first touchdown. Randall took the Maroon 56 yards in 7 plays, featuring a 34-yard run by tailback Cedric Humes that put the ball at the White 18 yard line.

Despite the proficiency of the QB's, the defenses had a good day, holding the offenses to a combined 2-of-13 on third-down conversions and 1-of-5 on fourth-down conversions. Perhaps the biggest defensive play of the day came when redshirt freshman Aaron Rouse of the White team made a diving knockdown of a fourth and goal pass by Randall from the White three-yard line. The play came late in the second quarter with the White holding on to their 7-3 lead, and it turned away the Maroon's best touchdown scoring threat of the day.

Richard Johnson scores on a reverse (click to enlarge)

The defenses buckled down after that, recording four straight three-and-outs that consumed the entire third quarter. The White opened the fourth quarter with the longest scoring drive of the day, going 60 yards in 9 plays and scoring on a 26-yard reverse by Richard Johnson on fourth and 2. The TD came with just over two minutes to go and closed out the scoring.

DeAngelo Hall played both ways the entire game, at wide receiver and cornerback, and he didn't disappoint the crowd of approximately 30,000 fans with his offensive play. He caught four passes for 47 yards, including a 19-yarder in which he sealed off the defender with his body and went up to make the catch.

Other receiving stars were Chris Clifton, with two catches for 53 yards, including a game-best 36-yarder; Ernest Wilford, with four catches for 38 yards and the TD; and Richard Johnson, with three catches for 35 yards.

With Kevin Jones sitting out, Mike Imoh carried the load at tailback for the White team, toting the ball seven times for 21 yards. But with his 34-yarder, Humes was the rushing star of the day, with six carries for 57 yards.

Defensively, the stars were Noland Burchette (Maroon) with two sacks for 12 yards in losses, and Jordan Trott (White) with a game-high six tackles. Aaron Rouse (White) and Darryl Tapp (White) also had a sack each, and Tim Sandidge (Maroon) was very disruptive and had a sack. One other notable player, James Griffin, wore Lee Suggs' old #22 and led the Maroon team with four tackles, along with Mikal Baaqee.

STATISTICS

                      Maroon       White
                        ----        ----
First downs                7           6 
Rushed-yards           11-55       15-39 
Passing yards            149          92 
Sacked-yards lost        2-9        3-16 
Return yards              61          65 
Passes               12-21-0     10-15-0 
Punts-Avg.            2-45.0      3-34.3 
Fumbles-lost             1-1         0-0 
Penalties-yards         2-22        1-10 
Time of possession     11:34       15:26 

Att: 30,000 (TSL estimate)

RUSHING: Maroon-Humes 6-57, D. Hall 1-0, Randall 4-(-2). White-R. Johnson 1-26, Imoh 7-21, Perlozzo 1-4, Candelas 1-4, Vick 4-(-15), Team 1-(-1).

PASSING: Maroon-Randall 12-21-0-149. White-Vick 10-15-0-92.

RECEIVING: Maroon-D. Hall 4-47, Clifton 2-53, King 2-3, Lee 1-35, Shreve 1-8, Hamilton 1-2, B. Hill 1-1. White-Wilford 4-38, R. Johnson 3-35, Mazzetta 2-18, Canter 1-1.

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