April 18, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University football team held its second scrimmage of the spring season Friday at Seibert Stadium. The Bulldogs looked crisp on both sides of the ball in an energetic 90-minute workout.

"I thought that we had a good scrimmage today and overall we've really had a good spring," said Samford head coach Pat Sullivan. "We only had seven healthy offensive linemen today, so we had to cut the practice a little short, but despite that we looked pretty good. Overall, I'm sure that we'll see a lot of positive things when we watch the film."

Following an extensive stretching period and a few light drills, Samford began the scrimmage at approximately 3 p.m., Friday.

The workout included a number of various scenarios, including drives beginning at the 40 and 20-yard lines on each side of the field. The coaching staff also put the team through goal line situations and kicking game formations.

Defensively, the Bulldogs' line looked sharp and the team recorded eight sacks. Samford's senior defensive end Mark Brown led the way with a pair of sacks, while sophomores John Michael Clay, Jason Gaines and Patrick Hatcher each finished with one apiece.

Linebackers Rodney Shepherd and Kyle Skiera also tallied sacks Friday. Shepherd, the Bulldogs' hard-hitting senior from Homewood, led the team with 88 tackles a year ago.

"We had a good scrimmage today, but we can always get better," said Shepherd. "We're always ready to come out here and play hard and right now we're just focused on getting better. We're never really satisfied with how we play, but I thought that we gave a good effort out there."

Along with its eight sacks, Samford also added five tackles for loss in the scrimmage.

Junior cornerback Ryan Anderson tallied a pair of tackles for loss, while the Bulldogs' Thomas Broussard picked up the lone interception of the day. On the pick, Broussard broke early on an out route and returned the ball 27 yards down the right sideline.

"Our defense looked really good out there," Sullivan said. "They definitely played hard and I also thought that our offense made some good plays. DeMarcus Covington made a few really good catches and our wide receivers really looked sharp. We only had one turnover in the scrimmage and that occurred in the first series."

Offensively, Samford's freshman quarterback Richie Fordham threw a pair of touchdown passes. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-1 native of Birmingham, was 7-of-9 for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

Fordham's first TD was a 20-yard fade pass to Jacobi Rodriguez in the back left corner of the end zone. On the score, Fordham dropped the ball in perfectly to Rodriquez as the freshman tip-toed his way inbounds for the touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver DeMarcus Covington earned the second TD on a similar fade pattern in the left corner of the end zone.

Covington, Samford's lithe 6-foot-2 receiver from John Carroll High School, finished the scrimmage with two catches for 24 yards.

"Richie (Fordham) had a couple of touchdown passes and Dante (Williams) led a couple of big drives for us," said Sullivan. "We've really had a good spring. I don't think that we've wasted a day at all and we're a much better football team than we were at this time last year."

Senior quarterback Dante Williams finished 9-of-11 for 95 yards Friday. He led the Bulldogs on a pair of long drives and completed a tough 30-yard pass to junior tight end Chris Spivey. On the play, Spivey caught the pass between a pair of Samford defenders and sped down the sideline for an additional 15 yards.

"Offensively, I thought that we really improved," Williams said. "In our last scrimmage, we had quite a few interceptions and today we only had one. That was a big improvement and even though we were short on the offensive line, they executed a lot of good plays in a short amount of time."

Sophomore quarterback Seth Harkness took the first snaps of Friday's scrimmage and went 4-of-6 for 67 yards. He also played well for the Bulldogs and advanced the team into field goal range a couple of times.

"I thought that we threw the ball a little better today, but I also thought that our defense did a really good job as well," Sullivan said. "All three of our quarterbacks are pretty much at the same point right now and they have all done some good things and some bad things. There are still some things that we need to work on, but it's still only the spring."

Samford's running game also looked strong in the scrimmage.

Sophomore running back Alex Barnett led the way with 45 yards on only four carries, while Chris Evans followed closely with 44 yards on six attempts. Junior Harris Johnson, from Vestavia Hills High School, racked up 25 yards on seven carries and Brock Johnson rushed twice for 10 yards.

A total of nine wide receivers caught passes for the Bulldogs.

Rodriguez finished the scrimmage with the best numbers as he brought down three passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. Spivey tallied 47 yards on two catches, while Brock Johnson added 43 yards on four receptions.

"Last year, the spring was kind of weird, because we didn't really know the coaches and the coaches really didn't know us," said Williams. "This year, we know the schemes, we know the coaches and this has been the best spring of the four years that I've been here."