Green Rallies Past White As Herd Concludes Spring Drills

4/13/2002

Despite being placed in a 24-0 hole to start the game, the Green team rallied to defeat the White team Saturday night 42-36 as Marshall concluded spring football practice.

The Green team, comprised of the Herd’s starting offensive and defensive units, opened with a 24-point deficit and saw that grow to 26 early on when junior defensive end Marcus Hairston sacked quarterback Byron Leftwich for a safety.

But the 26-point deficit was nothing the Herd hadn’t seen, and overcome, before. Leftwich led the Green unit on scoring drive after scoring drive, taking the lead 28-26 before the White squad was spotted another 10 points.

Despite having sat out much of spring drills after having minor leg surgery in February, the Herd’s Heisman Trophy Candidate quarterback looked sharp. He completed 17 of 27 passes for 267 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted once, on a ball that tipped off a receivers’ hands.

The highlight play of the evening for Leftwich, who spent the second half in the corner of the stadium signing autographs for some of the 6,252 people in attendance, was a 66-yard touchdown strike to Denero Marriott.

Marriott led all receivers with eight catches for 157 yards and a score. Josh Davis had four receptions for 74 yards while Darius Watts had three catches for 45 yards, including a 15-yard scoring strike from backup quarterback Stan Hill. Davis also had a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown for the Green team.

The game was not all about passing, however. Franklin Wallace led the Green team with 14 carries for 74 yards and three touchdowns. He had two short scoring runs to go with a 44-yard gallop into the end zone. Brandon Carey led the White team with 13 carries for 44 yards.

Hill and Andrew English saw the majority of their playing time for the White team. Hill completed eight of 16 passes for 76 yards and one interceptions. English was three of 10 for 31 yards and was picked off once as well.

The Green team defense was led by Charles Tynes with eight tackles and a blocked punt. Jamus Martin had five tackles in the scrimmage, including three for loss. J.T. Rembert also blocked a punt for the Green team while Chris Crocker and Yancey Satterwhite recorded six tackles each.

The White team defense was led by Gladstone Coke with six tackles and Willie Smith with five. Garrett Morrison and Renaldo Williams had interceptions and Hairston had a pair of sacks.

The scrimmage wraps up the Herd’s 15 spring practice sessions. The team will return to work in preparation for the 2002 season in early August. The season-opener against Appalachian State is scheduled for August 31.