The BG football team took a new approach to this year’s “Orange and White” spring football game.
Instead of a scoring system with points for sacks and catches, the Falcons went with regular game style scoring, and the orange team defeated the white team, 14-13.
Head coach Dave Clawson said part of the spring game is to create a game-like atmosphere.
“It helps a lot, I would say, with the young guys,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said.
Contrary to years before, the team constructed a draft to decide what team the players would be placed on — orange or white.
Quarterback Matt Schilz said the draft made the game more competitive.
The white team took an early 3-0 with a field goal from freshman Tyler Tate near the end of the first quarter.
The orange team answered shortly with a touchdown when Schilz found the hands of wide receiver Herve Coby to take a 7-6 halftime lead. Schilz was 19 of 36 for 185 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
Clawson is pleased with the amount of talent at the wide receiver position, but he said they are too inconsistent to win.
“I think the amount of athleticism we have at receiver and the depth is as good as we’ve ever been, but we don’t have the experience,” Clawson said.
Alex Carter took the ball and ran 66 yards for a breakaway touchdown for the white team — white was up 13-7 with just minutes left on the clock.
It wasn’t until late that orange made a game changing touchdown to take the lead, 14-13, to win the game.
Running back Jamel Martin took the ball into the end zone from 19 yards out to put orange up by one with 3:51 left on the clock. Martin had 86 yards on 20 carries, including the touchdown.
“We have a long way to go until we play Florida on Sept. 1 but we’ve had a very productive spring,” Clawson said.
A unique thing about the spring game is that it is practice 14 of 15 that the team is allowed to conduct. BG will meet one more time this spring to correct aspects of the spring game, Clawson said.
“In practice, everyone brought it every day this spring,” Schilz said.
The Falcons also announced that the team had chosen six captains this season. Among this six, three offensive and three defensive players, are Jones and Schilz.
Jones was almost a unanimous vote. Clawson said he had never seen as many votes as Jones received for captain.
“It’s a real honor that your teammates respect you that much and they look up to you to lead this team,” Jones said.
Jones has been a captain before, but this is Schilz’s first year. He said he is ready to take on the leadership role, and he is honored to be one of the six players chosen.
