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 Football Completes Spring Scrimmage
April 23, 2005 ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine football team took part in the Jeff Cole Spring Scrimmage on Saturday afternoon at Alfond Stadium. Despite the cold weather and some light rain, the Black Bears completed over 50 plays, with both the offense and defense coming up with big plays. The team will have three more practices next week to wrap up the spring practice sessions. "It was a clean scrimmage in that we did not have anyone come off injured and I thought we did a lot of things real well," said head coach Jack Cosgrove. "We can see some playmakers emerging on both sides of the ball, so that part of it is encouraging. They played hard and played with some enthusiasm. I am encouraged walking off the field about our development. This is not a veteran team, so we are going to rely on a lot of young guys who are learning as they go and that is taking place." The scrimmage was divided into five series, with the first offense and first defense taking three series. The series were broken up by two punting sessions with four punts each and one "skully" red zone period without linemen. On the first series of the day with the first teams, Ryan Waller (Chester, Va.) took a reverse 39 yards for a first down. The drive stalled at the twenty-yard line and Sean Garvey (Farmington, Conn.) made the 30-yard field goal attempt. With the second teams on the field, the defense got off to a strong start with a tackle for loss by Chris Jackson (Jersey City, N.J.) and a sack by Joshua Caldwell (Brewer, Maine). But Anthony Cotrone (Valley Stream, N.Y.) found Kevin McMahan (Rochester, N.Y.) down the middle and after a one-handed grab took it to the endzone for a 58-yard touchdown. The second series of plays for the first team was to the defense's advantage, with a sack by Patrick McCrossan (Sparta, N.J.) among the highlights. The second teams took the field again and Chris Legree (Brooklyn, N.Y.) found McMahan for a 60-yard touchdown completion on the first play from scrimmage. The second teams stayed on the field and drove again, getting inside the 20 on a 25-yard run by Teron Allen (Clairton, Pa.). Cotrone hit Manzi Pierre (Queens, N.Y.) for a ten-yard touchdown to end the series. In the final series of the day, the first teams were on the field for five redzone drives. The first drive ended with a missed field goal. The second drive was capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Ron Whitcomb (East Rochester, N.Y.) to Arel Gordon (Rochester, N.Y.). The offense kept rolling, scoring on a 19-yard run by Keien Williams (Eden, N.Y.). The defense came up with a stop as Jermaine Walker (Teaneck, N.J.) forced a fumble that was recovered by Justin Knox (Rome, Maine). On the final drive, Whitcomb found tight end Mike Moran (Lancaster, N.Y.) for an eight-yard touchdown completion. The team has three practices remaining of the fifteen spring practices. On Wednesday, April 27 and Friday, April 29, the team will practice at 3:50 pm. On Saturday, April 30 the team will take the field at 9:30 am for the final scrimmage, which will be followed at 11:00 am by the Black Bear Youth Experience. For more information about Maine Athletics, please visit www.GoBlackBears.com.
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