April 19, 2008

GREELEY, Colo. - At the Blue and Gold scrimmage, both sides of the ball got a good workout and look at the possibilities for the fall. In front of a good-sized crowd on a beautiful day, the Northern Colorado offense worked without several members of the offensive line and the defense smothered the receivers throughout the afternoon.

 

Senior transfer quarterback Bryan Waggener started with the number one offense and on the second play of the scrimmage hit senior tight end Ryan Chesla for 38-yards, which set up for a 42-yard field goal that sophomore Zak Bigelow just missed. Bigelow bounced back nicely making his last three attempts on the day as well as the point-after attempt when Waggener hit senior wide receiver Jason Caprioli for a 13-yard touchdown later in the scrimmage.

 

Freshman running back Nigel Nelson showed the coaches and the fans that his hard work is paying off as he gained 46 yards on 16 rushes, while senior Tyrone (DC) Wilson gained 40 yards on nine carries and senior David Woods tallied 34 yards on eight carries.

 

"There has been a lot of growth in the areas of playing physical and hard," said Head Coach Scott Downing. "All in all, I'm pleased with where we've gotten to with the offense."

 

Defensively, junior defensive end John Eddy had a big day recording a pair of sacks and a pass break up. The defense tallied eight sacks on the 108 play day and sophomore defensive back Max Hewitt tallied the lone pick of the day, returning a Waggener pass 35 yards.

 

"The defense has a lot of veterans even though we're still very young," quoted Downing. "Our young guys are making plays. We can't win championships without great defense and I think we're making strides."

 

Northern Colorado opens the 2008 fall schedule at Purdue on Sept. 6. Game time is still to be determined.

 

Rushing

N. Nelson 16-46

DC Wilson 9-40

D. Woods 8-34

B. Waggener 6-(-2)

D. Orms 6-(-3)

J. Schrenk 7-(-21)

 

Receiving

R. Chesla 2-45

C. Fauver 2-31

J. Caprioli 2-19 (TD)

B. Smith 1-15

B. Barmann 2-12

G. Machado 1-6

P. Neill 1-3

M. Vlahogeorge 1-0

 

Passing

B. Waggener 10c-25a-1int-117yds (TD)

J. Schrenk 2-6-0-15

D. Orms 1-6-0-6

 

Defense

INT: Max Hewitt (35 yd return)

Sacks: John Eddy (2), Trey Keene, Amal Gumbs, Ethan Davis, Derek Palmer, Chris Schardt, 1 unknown

PBU: Eddy

 

Kicking

C. Kaman 4 punts 135 yards (long 51)

Z. Bigelow 1-1 extra point. 3-4 fg (long 37)

M. York 2-4 fg (long 39)