April 26, 2008

Orange & Blue Scrimmage Photo Gallery

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell football team finished its 2008 spring camp with a flourish on Saturday morning, as big plays and hard hits entertained the crowd at the annual Orange & Blue intrasquad scrimmage. Topping the list of highlights was a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by freshman defensive back Jamal Briggs.

The scrimmage consisted of nine periods, each representing different phases of a football game from special teams to the two-minute drill to an overtime period.

The defense was the story early on, as the Bison stop unit yielded only one first down in eight series during periods two (offense backed up at its own 6-yard line) and three (offense starts at own 35 looking to drive the ball).

Local product Levi Finsterbush of nearby Mifflinburg, who is back after missing his entire freshman season with a shoulder injury, had a key pass breakup on a third down play, as did junior linebacker Julius Hopson on another series. Later, freshman defensive lineman John von Paris and junior linebacker Todd Manjuck had sacks to stop drives.

After halftime the Bucknell offense came alive. On the first play after the break, with the offense taking over at midfield simulating a change-of-possession situation, sophomore Justin Pulgrano lofted a halfback option pass along the right sideline to freshman Shaun Pasternak, who made the first of his two circus catches. The 38-yard gain set up a 25-yard field goal by Alex Odenbach.

Later in that period, Pasternak caught a 29-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Marcello Trigg on third-and-long, but Jason Davis and Sam Nana-Sinkam combined on a sack to keep the offense off the board.

Briggs, who had just delivered a punishing hit for a 4-yard loss, accounted for the game's only turnover during perios six (goal line offense). On fourth-and-goal from the 7, he stepped in front of a partially deflected pass near the left pylon and raced untouched down the sideline for the 100-yard touchdown.

Trigg atoned for the error moments later, however, when he scored from one yard out.

During the eighth period head coach Tim Landis had his team simulate an overtime period, and on both possessions starting from the 25-yard line the offense scored quickly.

The first touchdown was a terrific 25-yard scamper from sophomore A.J. Kizekai, on just the second play of the period. Kizekai burst through a hole on the right side, stiff-armed a tackler at the 3-yard line and burst through another defender at the goal line for the score.

Then on the very first play of the next series, sophomore QB A.J. Pompliano scored on his own 25-yard run. The play was all the more impressive considering that "two hand touch" rules applied on the quarterbacks. Pompliano, a former wide receiver now playing quarterback, dodged a number of defenders on his way to the end zone.

The 90-minute scrimmage wrapped up with a dramatic touchdown in a two-minute drill simulation. The offense took over at its own 34-yard line with 1:50 left and two timeouts, needing a field goal to tie and a touchdown to win.

First-down catches by Pasternak and Cale Cadman moved the chains, but a big holding penalty on the offense seemingly stonewalled the drive. On third-and-20 from its own 49, Trigg rolled out and lobbed a pass to Justin Pulgrano out of the backfield, and Pulgrano sped into the end zone with only four seconds remaining.

"I thought it was a very competitive scrimmage, which was very reflective of the way spring practice went throughout," said Landis. "Early on the defense ruled the day, but that didn't surprise me because they had been playing well all spring. The offense came back and made some big plays, and I thought they also were close on some early ones that might have changed the complexion.

"The defensive line gave us a real good pass rush. It looked like Will Braaf and Todd Rinaldo especially were getting good pressure on the quarterbacks. It was great to see freshman Jamal Briggs make the big play on the interception return. Offensively the touchdown run by A.J. Kizekai required extra special effort, and we really got a good look at what Shaun Pasternak can do when we get him the ball."

The Bison will next don their pads in the first week of August when training camp begins in preparation for the Sept. 6 season opener at home against Duquesne.