Scrimmage Shortened by Lightning

Decision on starting quarterback delayed

VALDOSTA, Ga. - Valdosta State managed just eight drives before lightning cut the Blazer scrimmage short Saturday afternoon at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

The Blazers sat through a 45 minute lightning delay before taking the field and, after warming up for five minutes, was forced to wait another 30 minutes for lightning to move out of the Valdosta area before finally taking the field for its first scrimmage of the 2009 preseason. The scrimmage, which was slated to run two hours, was cut short 45 minutes later when inclement weather moved back into the area.

The Blazer offense scored on three of its eight drives, each of which started from the offense's 25 yard line. Each of the three quarterbacks vying for the starting job, led the offensive unit to a score as the offense scored two touchdowns and a field goal on the day.

Russ Callaway led the VSU offense on its first drive, completing three-of-five passes for 16 yards before the drive stalled out at the 50 yard line. Kellen Lewis came for the second drive and completed four-of-seven attempts, with all three incompletes coming on his final three passes of the series. David Arnold gave the fans their first chance to cheer on the drive when he took a hand-off and appeared to get stopped at the line of scrimmage. However, the sophomore transfer spun out of the tackle and drug a defender 14 yards before being tackled. The drive ended with a 35-yard field for the first score of the day.

The next three drives saw the defense dominate as the offense managed just 43 total yards on 10 plays. After a three and out from the offense, Lewis re-entered and provided the only highlight of the three drives as he rolled out and picked up 31 yards before being run out of bounds at the defense's 30 yard line. However, the senior was unable to cleanly handle the ensuing snap from center and Tommie Duhart fell on the ball to recover the fumble for the defense.

Jimmy Coy led the offense to its first touchdown of the day on his second series as he directed the offense on a nine-play, 75 yard drive. Coy completed two of his three passes on the drive and also carried the ball twice for 12 yards, including a five-yard touchdown run to cap off the drive. The big play of the series came when Coy found Nick Richards down the middle for a 31-yard gain while Eric Sledge recorded four carries for 23 yards to set up Coy's touchdown run.

After a three and out in Lewis' final series of the day, Callaway closed out the scrimmage with a 26-yard scoring strike to P.J. Katz. After incomplete passes on the first two plays of the drive, Callaway found Chris Wellborn for a 21-yard gain. Derrick Harris proceeded to pick up 14 more yards on the ground followed by a 15-yard pass interference call. Two incomplete passes left Callaway facing a third-and-10, but the junior found Katz over the middle in the end zone for the score.

"The weather was frustrating," said head coach David Dean after the scrimmage. "Our guys handled it well, being all pumped up and then having to sit around. They kept their focus and overall I thought we had a good scrimmage.

"I thought our guys did a good job adjusting and making quick decisions. We're not where we need to be, but we have two more weeks to get there and what I saw today makes me feel like we are heading in the right direction."

Lewis led the quarterbacks as he completed eight-of-11 passes for 49 yards. He also carried the ball two times for 23 yards while Callaway completed five-of-13 passes for 67 yards and a score. Coy finished the day three-of-six passing for 39 yards and tallied two carries for 12 yards.

Wellborn led the receivers with three catches for 42 yards while Katz tallied a pair of receptions for 29 yards and a score. Cedric Jones also finished with two catches, for 15 yards, both of which came on the first, and his only, series of the scrimmage. Arnold finished the day with 17 yards on two carries.

"I thought Eric Sledge and David Arnold ran very well out there today," Dean added. "I was also impressed with our pass rush. Our front four put a lot of pressure on the quarterback."

Due to the shortened scrimmage, Dean announced after the practice that he would delay naming a starting quarterback until after Monday night's practice.

"While we got to see all three quarterbacks today, we wanted one more good look at them and we just weren't able to get that with as little as we were out there," he concluded. "We practice late on Monday and decided we would scrimmage a little bit more then so we are going to wait until Tuesday to name our starter."

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