• Sport Home
• |
• Roster
• |
• Schedule
• |
• Stats
• |
• Archives

April 18, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Jarod Bryant rushed for 30 yards and a touchdown and completed all three of his pass attempts for 66 yards to lead the Blue to a 14-0 victory over the Gold in Navy's annual spring football game. The game was played in a brisk 1:18 thanks to 12- minute quarters in the first half and 10-minute quarters with a running clock in the second half.

"Our two main goals tonight were accomplished. Navy won the game and nobody got hurt," said Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo. "I thought the Blue team, especially on offense, just came out and punched the clock tonight. I thought the Gold team played very hard."

Bryant led the Blue team on a 65-yard scoring drive on the first series of the game, capping the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. The key play on the drive was a 25-yard pass from Bryant to Shun White that took the ball down to the one-yard line. Bryant scored on the next play.

The Blue offense was stymied after the initial series as the Gold defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. Rising sophomores Trey Grissom and Tyler Simmons wore out the Blue offensive line with a combined 16 tackles in the first half. Grissom, who enters next fall second on the depth chart with Travis Sudderth at outside linebacker, recorded eight tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss and a sack in the first half and added another tackle and a fumble recovery in the second half. Simmons, who stands second at inside linebacker entering the fall, had eight first-half tackles.

"Trey Grissom and Tyler Simmons have promising futures for us," said Niumatalolo. "I thought they both did a good job of flying around the football."

The game remained 7-0 until late in the fourth quarter when third-string quarterback Ricky Dobbs broke off a 32-yard run down the right sideline. Dobbs broke several tackles and made several others miss until he was knocked out of bounds at the three-yard line. Three plays later Andre Byrd scored on a pitch around left end from the four-yard line to give the Blue the final margin of 14-0.

"Ricky had a nice run at the end, but he still needs to take care of the football," said Niumatalolo. "That being said, he has a bright future here."