Blazers Hold Final Preseason Scrimmage

Defense shines early, offense comes on strong late

VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Valdosta State defense dominated early while the offense controlled the latter part of the Blazers' final pre-season scrimmage of the 2009 season Wednesday afternoon at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

The day began with the offense starting on its own five yard line and needing, but saw the unit fail to pick up a first down on either of its two drives. Derrick Harris began the first drive with a five-yard line, but linebacker Marcel Horne and cornerback Rashad Etheridge broke up a pair of Kellen Lewis passes on the ensuing plays to stop the drive. Meanwhile, after Russ Callaway found Isaiah Jupiter on the first play of the second drive, Alec Williams sacked Callaway for a six-yard loss on second down and David Arnold managed just four yards on third down to end the drive.

The next four drives of the scrimmage featured the offense attempting to score from the defense's 10-yard line. Lewis led the Blazer offense to a touchdown on the first drive, although the offense dug itself a hole early in the drive. Lewis was sacked on first down before a pair of false start penalties brought up a second and 29. Lewis promptly found R.J. Bastone for a 15-yard pick-up and, on third down, connected with Jackson Dean from 14 yards out for the score.

Austen Roberts came on for the second drive and moved the offense to the four-yard line before a pair of incomplete passes ended the drive while Lewis' final two drives of the series also ended without a score.

The next ten plays of the scrimmage featured the Blazer offense facing a third and long situation, with the offense needing to gain at least 10 yards on each of the plays. The first seven plays saw the offense gain just seven yards, on a Lewis to Harris completion on the third play, before Lewis moved the chains for the first time in the series with a 24-yard run on the eighth play. Lewis and Gerald Ford hooked up for 10 yards on a third-and-11 play on the next series before also connecting for a 10 yard pick-up and a first down on the final play.

The defense tallied three passes broken up and three sacks during the first half of the scrimmage, which covered 27 plays.

After some special teams work, the offense and defense again squared off, beginning with a pair of two-minute drill drives beginning at the offense's 25-yard line. Lewis was perfect on the first drive as he completed all five of his passes for 62 yards while Ronnye Nelson also rushed for three yards before the coaches stopped the drive, on a second-and-seven play, for a successful 31-yard field goal by Daniel Anderson. Callaway came on for the second drive and completed three of his first four passes to pick up 14 yards. On the next play he found Kody Case down the middle for 36 yards, but an illegal receiver down field penalty erased the play and Callaway's next four passes fell incomplete to end the series.

The next eight plays featured a second-and-short scenario that saw the offense gain just two first downs before the offense again faced lengthy drive, beginning at its own 40. Lewis was intercepted on the first drive of the series and saw a pass batted down on third-and-nine of the second drive before moving the ball into the red zone on the third drive. He completed all four passes he threw on the drive, including three to Owen Dixon for 41 yards. Wilbert Carter caught the final pass on the defense's eight-yard line, but was promptly stripped of the ball, a fumble that was recovered by the defense.

The next eight plays again featured the Blazer offense needing to convert a short yardage situation, with the offense being successful on half of those plays before two additional drives with the offense needing to score from the defense's 10. Lewis found Chris Wellborn for a score on the first play of the series and then saw Curt Diel get a foot in-bounds on a jumping grab on the sideline on the final drive for a second score.

The scrimmage ended with a pair of two-minute drills from the offense's 30-yard line. Lewis began the series with a touchdown while completing all three passes he threw on the series. He hooked up with Case for six yards on the first play and then hit Bastone along the sideline for a first down on the offense's 40. On the next play, he hit a streaking Jupiter down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown pass.

Callaway closed out the scrimmage with the final two-minute drive. He was sacked on first down and saw his pass on second drop incomplete before Williams, who coupled a pass broken up with his sack early in the scrimmage, intercepted a screen pass to end the scrimmage.

Lewis, who took the majority of snaps on the day after missing Monday night's scrimmage due to class, completed 24-of-38 passes for 281 yards and four touchdowns, against one interception, on the day. Meanwhile, Callaway was five-of-12 passing for 41 yards.

The Blazers turn their attention the next two days to preparing for the season opener against Newberry. They will also host the annual "Meet the Blazers" day on Saturday at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. Registration for the event opens at 8:00 a.m. followed by a Youth Mini-Camp, opened to ages five through 13, beginning at 9:00 a.m. The festivities will end with a photograph and autograph session beginning at approximately 10:30 a.m. In case of rain, the event will be moved to the P.E. Complex on the VSU campus.

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