Offense Wins Spring Game 30-23
4/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 11, 2003
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- In a spring game which featured the offense against the defense, the Stephen F. Austin offensive unit outscored the defense 30-23 in the annual spring game at Homer Bryce Stadium to close out spring drills for 2003. The defensive unit was awarded one point for forcing a punt, two points for any three-and-out series, three points for turnovers and points for any scores as a result of turnovers.
Kevin Gore of The Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel coached the defense, while Shawn Clynch of KTRE-TV coached the offensive unit.
"I thought we had a great scrimmage. I saw effort on both sides of the ball, and a lot of great individual performances. It looked like the guys had a good time and I think that Kevin Gore and Shawn Clynch had a good time coaching the game. Overall, I thought it was a great way to end spring, more importantly we came out healthy," said Santiago.
The offensive unit rode the arms of three Lumberjack quarterbacks and the big play ability of Tony Tompkins to pick up the 30-23 win. Quarterbacks Zeke Dixon, Michael Williams and Royal Gill combined to complete 25 of 40 passes for 380 yards and two touchdowns. Royal Gill also was picked off one time on the night.
Dixon connected with Matt Bodley for the first offensive score of the night on a seven yard touchdown pass. He later hooked up with Tony Tompkins on a 62-yard pass and run to set up a Thomas Williams scoring run from five yards out late in the first half. He also hooked up with Tompkins with just :13 left in the first half on a 44-yard touchdown strike. The Westlake, La. sophomore ended the night 8-14 for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
Tony Tompkins led all receivers in the game with five catches for 163 yards and a touchdown. He also added five carries for 15 yards.
Williams completed 13 of 18 passes for 173 yards on the night and completed eight in a row during one stretch. He hooked up with Carl Price for a 35-yard completion to set up a Ryan Rossner field goal in the third quarter.
The SFA ground attack was led by Thomas Williams' 20 carries for 54 yards. As a team, the 'Jacks rushed the ball 45 times for 67 yards. Gary Allen added nine carries for 20 yards. The defensive unit recorded four sacks on the night for a total of 42 yards in losses. Kenneth Winters and Ryan Smith had 1.5 sacks each with David Crocker picking up the other.
The 'Jacks open the season on Sept. 6 against the University of Louisiana-Monroe, in Monroe, La.
SPRING GAME STATS
RUSHING ATT YDS TD
Thomas Williams 20 59 1 Gary Allen 9 20 0 Tony Tompkins 5 15 0 Royal Gill 2 1 0 Michael Williams 6 -3 Zeke Dixon 3 -20 TOTALS 45 67 2
PASSING A-C-I YDS TD Michael Williams 13-18-0 173 0 Zeke Dixon 8-14-0 128 2 Royal Gill 4-8-1 79
TOTALS 25-40-1 380 2
RECEIVING REC YDS TD Tony Tompkins 5 163 1 Ben Booker 4 72 0 Carl Price 3 68 0 Miguel Toulon 2 26 0 Matt Bodley 2 16 1 Thomas Williams 2 10 0 Gary Allen 2 7 0 Miguel Toulon 2 26 0 Michael David 1 7 0 Matt Lischman 1 6 0 Paul Todd 1 5 0
TOTALS 25 380 2
