Tune
up the band, bring on the cheerleaders, and find a good seat at the “Vet.” The
weather-perfect T-Day was as predicted by Head Coach Neil Brown: Fun and fan friendly; from beginning to
end. It was dagwood sandwich of events
from pre-scrimmage one-on-one drills, fan competitions, x’s and o’s of 11 on
11, the razzle-dazzle of the final play, or culminating with every lineman’s
dream (spin move and lunge – though not exactly Herschel Walker-like).
THE MEAT
The
first drive Terrance Corbelt came away with a sack to end the first offensive
drive with the Grey team taking over after the punt.
The
first big play came from the arm of Sawyer Smith placing a 44-yard bomb into
the hands of Damion Willis for the Grey team.
Kaleb
Barker broke off a 23-yard run that put the Trojans in prime scoring position.
Barker kept the ball on an option run for a 21-yard touchdown run for the Grey
team.
The
Grey team was full of big plays with Jamarius Henderson breaking free for a
51-yard gain.
Bratcher
Underwood put the ball through the uprights for the Grey team kicking a 30-yard
field goal.
The
White team never gave up and its very own Hunter Reese scooped up a fumble in
the end zone for a touchdown.
The
White team wasn’t calling it quits there. Tailback Keith Johnson took a pitch
out for a 9-yard touchdown run.
White
team came all the way back to tie it up at 19 with a Kyler Knudsen interception.
That wasn’t the end there and Coach Brown proposed a best of three competition
to break up the tie.
THE BUN
“Winners get steaks, losers get hotdogs” –
Coach Brown
It’s
the best of 3. First up, “It’s big man
on big man;” O-lineman on D-lineman, 1 on 1. The play was a quick slant…pretty
quick anyhow; the pass was complete to Grey was complete but came up short of
the goal line, Grey 1 White 0. Next up,
blind-side drill; just keep him off the QB, and you need to hold the block for
5 seconds (or so). It was bantam on bantam (sorry, skill on skill player,
receiver vs. db) with the White holding on; White 1 Grey 1, or all tied at 20.
The
victor of the day shall be decided on one final drill; either filets or a ballpark
franks. Right out of the back yard, one with the ball and one with his heels on
the goal line. The man with the ball offensive
lineman Zachery Branner, had the carry with the big “nasty” (spin move - from
early days of ballet), followed by a leap, a lunge, a lean to the end zone for
the score. The White team wins, 21-20.
THE WORKS
Game time with the Fans
Sprinkles
of fan participation accompanied the scrimmage.
Winner winner go a chicken dinner – not – they received an autographed
jersey sign by Coach Brown himself.
The
first game was a trivia drive down the field game where one lucky fan had to
throw a pass into the netted target while players answered questions to move
the ball down field. This was a unique and fun game to get the fans into the
T-Day festivities.
The
next game up was a kicking game where two fans had former kickers square off to
kick as many field goals in thirty seconds. The two kickers tied and left a
brother and sister duke it out in a game of paper-rock-scissors. The duo ended
up tying and both received autographed jerseys from Coach Brown.
The
last game was for a trip to Baton Rouge with the football team to watch Troy
take on LSU. The game was simple and the only thing this fan had to do was catch
a deep ball from passing machine. The fan went up, came down and that lucky fan
is going to Baton Rouge to see the Trojans take on the Tigers.
