Marshall University Athletics
Green Dominates White, 43-6
4/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 21, 2007
HUNTINGTON - Marshall University's football team concluded spring practice with the annual Green and White game on Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington with the Green team taking a 43-6 victory over the White team.
A crowd of 7,922 fans enjoyed a perfect day with beautiful weather and plenty of offense as the Thundering Herd's starters shook off a slow start to roll to the victory over the rest of the squad.
"We have had a good spring," Marshall head coach Mark Snyder said. "Overall it was a successful spring, but we have plenty of work to do as a team. We were very vanilla today in what we did with the game, but I think the fans enjoyed it and thats what it is all about."
The White team's only score of the day came on Green's opening play. Quarterback Bernard Morris was intercepted by Chuck Roberts at the Green's 47-yardline and Roberts raced down the sideline to put the White up 6-0. Following a failed 2-point conversion by the White team, the Green team would roll off 43 unanswered points.
Among the top performers in the game was sophomore standout tight end Cody Slate who led all receivers with six catches for 157 yards and a touchdown. Slate was on the receiving end of a 46-yard scoring strike from Morris in the second quarter that put the Green up 14-6.
Junior wide receiver Emmanuel Spann hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Morris at the end of the first half and added a nine yard TD receptions from Brian Anderson in the third quarter. He finished the day with three catches for 39 yards and the pair of touchdowns. Sophomore receiver Courtney Edmonson hauled in six passes for 115 yards for the green squad. The white's top performer was sophomore William Barber who recorded three catches for 42 yards.
Morris, who played only the first half, finished the day 11-of-19 passing for 199 yards and two touchdowns with the one interception. Redshirt-freshman Brian Anderson, who started the game with the white team and played the majority of the second half with the green, was 12-of-16 for 115 yards and a touchdown. Wesley Beardain finished the day 7-of-20 for 62 yards and completed a touchdown pass to senior Shawn Lauzon.
Morris also was the games leading rusher. The senior to be carried the ball twice for 22 yards, while Beardain finished the day with three carries for 19 yards. Running Back Chubb Small was used sparingly and carried the ball four times for 14 yards and a touchdown. He also added three catches for 28 yards.
Linebacker Cody Tominack led the White with eight total tackles, followed by Chuck Roberts and Pete Culicerto who recorded five each. Roberts and D.J. Wingate both intercepted passes in the contest, while Michale Janac recorded a sack for the white team.
The Green used a balanced defensive effort. John Jacobs, Will Albin and Josh Johnson were all credited with five tackles, while Ashton Hall, Howard King and Ryland Wilson added four each.
Zearick Matthews recorded two pass breakups and Montel Glasco added a sack for the Green team.
Marshall starting kicker Anthony Binswanger did not attempt any field goals on the day, but was a perfect five for five on point after attempts for the Green Squad.
The Green's final score of the game came at the 4-minute mark when Wesley Beardain found Shawn Lauzon alone in the corner of the endzone for a 16-yard touchdown pass. The coaches then threw in a twist. The Green team used a power formation that featured defensive lineman Byron Tinker at fullback and Defensive End Albert McClellan at tailback to convert on a two-point conversion. McClellan powered his way into the endzone to close out the scoring behind Tinker's block.
Marshall paid tribute to those lost in last week's tragedy at Virginia Tech with a moment of silence following the national anthem. In addition to that every Marshall football player wore a Virginia Tech logo on the back of their helmets during the game.
