North Carolina Central University

FOOTBALL

     DURHAM, NC -- Defense was the name of the game Saturday as both the new look offense and defense squared off in the annual North Carolina Central University "Maroon and Gray" Spring Football Game at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium on the campus of NCCU. 
     With the addition of new offensive and defensive coordinators (Darrell Asberry and Clifford Yoshida), the schemes were fairly new, but the names were somewhat familiar. 
Senior First Team All-Conference defensive end Scheldon Connor and sophomore linebacker Jamar Neely led the way for the Maroon defense with seven tackles apiece.  Connor's seven stops were more prolific as he chased down starting quarterback Adrian Warren for two of his three sacks, and a total of five tackles for loss.  Neely, who was recently moved to linebacker from the defensive line, controlled the middle with three hits in the backfield on various running backs. 
     Also leading the defensive charge were linebackers Bobby Brown with five tackles and Darren Brothers with three tackles.  Brothers quickly caught the crowds attention with two big hits on consecutive plays. 
     The secondary was led by corner back Tyrone Williams, who had two tackles and an interception, in which he wrestled the ball out of receiver Ryan Craig's hands. 
     The defense tallied their victory with nine tackles for loss, four sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles, which were both recovered for turnovers.
     "The defense had a little better day today," said NCCU head coach Rod Broadway. "They were flying around and hitting people. We have to execute a little bit better offensively."
     The offense, which averaged 4.5 yards per play, totaled 294 yards on the day, including 170 yards rushing.
     Sophomore running back Cortney Clinton led the way for the Gray offense with 96 ground yards on 22 attempts, including a three-yard touchdown scamper.
     Starting quarterback Warren took 52 of the 72 snaps, completing 5-of-13 passes for a 80 yards, including a 38-yard strike to Naim Abdul-Malik for the first touchdown of the game. 
     Back-up quarterback Jason Williams saw considerable playing time and responded with touchdown run, while going 2-for-8 for 44 passing yards.
     William Lewis and Toryeon Hester each caught two passes, while Charles Futrell led all receivers in yardage with a 48 grab to set up Williams' one-yard score. 
     The offense began slowly, failing to cross midfield on its first seven possessions. However, the offense scored three touchdowns and gained 11 first downs on their final nine possessions.
     "We are a better football team now than we were last season," Broadway said. "We have taken some huge strides defensively."
     The Eagles will report back to NCCU on August 5 to open the 2004 gridiron campaign.

Defense = Maroon   vs.  Offense = Gray

TEAM STATISTICS:
Total Plays ............ 72
 Rush .....................44
 Pass ......................21
 Penalty ...................7
Total Yards ..........294
 Rush Yards .........170
 Pass Yards ..........124
 Avg. Yds./Play ...4.52
First Downs ...........13
 Rush .......................8
 Pass .......................4
 Penalty ...................1
Sacks-Yards ......4-22
Defensive Stops .....13
 Int.-Yards ...........1-0
 Fumbles-Yards ...2-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

RUSHING LEADERS: Atts-Yds-TD
#33 Cortney Clinton (RB) 22-96-1 (3 yds)
#16 Undra Perry (RB) 6-39-0
#40 Chris Scott (RB) 4-31-0
#12 Jason Williams (QB) 3-11-1 (1 yd)
#18 William Lewis (WR) 1-9-0
#6 Ryan Craig (WR) 1-2-0
#1 Adrian Warren (QB) 7-(-18)-0
TOTAL 44-170-2

PASSING:  Att-Comp-Int Yds TD Sack
#1 Adrian Warren 13-5-1 80 1 3
#12 Jason Williams 8-2-0 44 0 1
TOTAL 21-7-1 124 1 4

RECEIVING: Rec-Yds-TD
#18 William Lewis 2-26-0
#9 Toryeon Hester 2-16-0
#8 Charles Futrell 1-48-0
#87 Naim Abdul-Malik 1-38-1
#6 Ryan Craig 1-(-4)-0
TOTAL 7-124-1

DEFENSIVE LEADERS: 
#93 Scheldon Connor (DL) 7 tackles, 5 TFL, 3 sacks
#97 Jamar Neely (LB) 7 tackles, 3 TFL
#36 Bobby Brown (LB) 5 tackles, 2 TFL
#22 Tyrone Williams (DB) 2 tackles, interception