UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University football team hosted its annual Red vs. White Spring Game on Saturday (Apr. 12) at Wickes Stadium. Under a new scoring format for this spring, the Red Team (Defense) defeated the White Team (Offense) by a score of 34-13.
The Cardinals weren't able to split their roster into two different teams, so the game just featured the offense versus the defense, with the defense earning points by forcing turnovers, making stops and scoring themselves.
The Red Team put up the first score of the game with a defensive stop, giving them a 2-0 lead with 8:22 left in the first quarter. Later in the first, Red tacked-on another two points when Sam Quinn was able to break up a pass on third down, forcing white to punt and make the score 4-0 with 6:16 left in the quarter.
Team White struck back at the 7:30 mark of the second quarter with a 10 yard touchdown pass from Keith Moore to receiver Bryan Fobbs, making the score 7-6. Team Red responded quickly as Joe Shields blocking the extra point attempt, giving them a 9-6 lead.
Later in the quarter, Red Team forced a fumble and recovered at about the 50-yardline, this turnover talllying another three points for a score of 17-6.
The offensive White Team would gain some momentum late in the first half with a 31-yard pass complete from Moore to Fobbs at the 50 second mark followed by a 25-yard touchdown pass once again connecting from Moore to Fobbs. Scott Stanford secured the extra point kick, leaving the first half with a 22-13 score.
The second half was controlled by the defensive Red Team, beginning with a stop on an incomplete pass at the 8:00 minute mark to make the score 24-13. A forced fumble by a host of Cardinals followed soon after, making the score 27-13 with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter.
The White Team showed promise midway through the fourth quarter with 30-yard pass from Jacob LeClair to Sean Wren, followed by another 14-yard completion from LeClair to Wren, moving them up to the 24-yardline. An impressive 17-yard run by Gerald Gates then placed the White Team at the 7 yard line, but they were unable to finish on fourth down, making the final score 34-13.
The game wraps-up the spring practice season for SVSU, which will commence for its fall practices in August in preparation for the upcoming 2014 season.