grassgrunt
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May 10, 2003
BLACK BEARS WRAP-UP WORKOUTS WITH ANNUAL SPRING GAME
Dottin-Carter and Zyskowski named captains for 2003
ORONO, Maine - Both the Black Bear offense and defense put on outstanding performances as the University of Maine football team closed out spring practice with the annual Spring Game, Saturday evening on Morse Field in Orono.
This year's Spring Game was a controlled-situation scrimmage, with both the first and second teams on offense (Blue team) and defense (White team) getting the chance to show their stuff on drives starting from various starting points in the field.
The rules were simple: the offense must either get a first down or score, or they return to the starting point of the drive.
The first team offense, guided by freshman quarterback Ron Whitcomb (East Rochester, N.Y./East Rochester), nearly put some points on the board on the first drive of the day. Starting at their own 26-yard line, Whitcomb engineered a 13-play drive down to the White seven-yard line. The drive ended with defensive back Clinton Brown's (Yarmouth, Mass./Barnstable) hit on tailback Montell Owens (Wilmington, Del./Concord), causing a fumble that was scooped up by defensive lineman Marcus Walton (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains).
"I really felt like we played some good football on both sides of the ball," said Head Coach Jack Cosgrove. "The offense did some nice things moving the football - they had a 14-play drive, but ended up turning the thing over which is a credit to the defense. That was a great hit by Clinton Brown, responding down in the red zone."
The "Black Hole" defense allowed the defense to post just two first-downs over the next four drives, forcing the offense to start over on each occasion.
The Blue team finally reached the endzone on the game's sixth drive. Starting at the White 47-yard line, Whitcomb connected with sophomore wideout Ryan Waller (Chester, Va./L.C. Bird) on a 33-yard touchdown strike.
The next two offensive drives ended with field goals of 35 yards and 19 yards by Mike Mellow (Stonington, Conn./Stonington). Mellow connected on a total of four field goals during the scrimmage, and ended the day by connecting on a 50-yarder at the conclusion of the game.
The last five drives of the night started on the White 21-yard line, giving the Black Bears a chance to work on their red-zone offense and defense. Owens scored the game's only other touchdown, an 11-yard scoring rush, during one of those red-zone drives.
On the offense's next drive, Chris Legree's (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep) throw into the endzone was picked off by Clinton Brown.
Owens led the Black Bears on the ground with 49 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries, working with both the first and second teams. With junior tailback Marcus Williams (Amherst, Mass./Amherst) unavailable for the Spring Game, Owens was on the field for virtually every offensive play.
Whitcomb had 31 yards on six carries, while fullback Mike Zyskowski (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids CC) had five yards on two carries.
Whitcomb also had the best passing numbers among the three quarterbacks, completing six of eight attempts for 93 yards and one TD. Jon Meczywor (Lanesboro, Mass./Mt. Greylock) connected on five of his 14 attempts for 42 yards, while Legree was five of eight for 26 yards.
Ryan Waller led the receivers with four catches for 49 yards, followed by Kevin McMahan (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas) with 35 yards on four receptions. Steve Williams (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains) also had four receptions for 25 yards, while Dante Fusco (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck), Christian Pereira (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes), Ivi Nwosu (Bridgewater, Mass./Coyle Cassidy), and Owens had one receptions apiece.
Defensively, linebacker Matt King (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) led with eight tackles, while defensive back John Baumgartner (Carteret, N.J./Carteret), Jermaine Walker (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck), and Agean Robinson (Albany, N.Y./Albany Academy) had six tackles each. The "Black Hole" also logged four sacks during the game.
At the end of the day, Cosgrove found plenty to be happy about in Saturday's game, which closed out four weeks of practice sessions and scrimmages.
"I think we've got some skill developing on offense at quarterback; at the receiver position, we caught it well at times; and defensively, we showed the ability to rush the passer and to make some big plays," said Cosgrove. "We're pleased with the advances we made, the improvement we made, during the course of the spring. I know that we still have a lot of work to do before we get to preseason, but I know the coaches are excited to be working with this group of guys. We got a lot out of them this spring, and expect to get a lot more out of them next preseason."
Prior to Saturday night's game, Cosgrove and his staff presented achievement awards from the spring and named the 2003 team captains.
Freshman defensive lineman Mike DeVito (Wellfleet, Mass./Wellfleet) received the "First-Year Maine Man Award," given to the first-year player who makes the biggest overall improvement during winter strength and conditioning workouts. Junior defensive lineman Pat Pa'u (Ayer, Mass./Ayer) received the "Maine Man Award" for the upper classes.
Whitcomb was named the Most Improved Player on offense for spring 2003, while fifth-year senior lineman Fred Lazo (East Patchaque, N.Y./Bellport) was the Most Improved Player on defense. Sophomore Joan Quezada (Union City, N.J./Emerson) received the Most Improved Player award for special teams.
Senior defensive lineman Dennis Dottin-Carter (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin) and fullback Mike Zyskowski were named team captains for 2003.
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE 2003 SPRING GAME STATISTICS
Rushing (No.-Yds.)
Montell Owens 24-49 (1 TD)
Ron Whitcomb 6-31
Mike Zyskowski 2-5
Chris Legree 8-3
Jon Meczywor 6-1
Passing (Att.-Comp.-I-TD, Yds.)
Chris Legree 8-5-1-0, 26 yds.
Jon Meczywor 14-5-0-0, 42 yds.
Ron Whitcomb 8-6-0-1, 93 yds.
Receiving (No.-Yds.)
Ryan Waller 4-49 (1 TD)
Kevin McMahan 4-35
Steve Williams 4-25
Dante Fusco 1-22
Christian Pereira 1-15
Ivi Nwosu 1-11
Montell Owens 1-4
Defensive Leaders UA-AT-TT (Other)
Matt King 4-4-8
John Baumgartner 4-2-6
Jermaine Walker 4-2-6
Agean Robinson 1-5-6
Justin Knox 3-2-5 (Sack 1-10)
Alex Goyins 2-2-4
Dan Joslyn 2-2-4
Clinton Brown 2-1-3 (Int. 1-0, FF 1)
Joan Quezada 2-1-3
Joe Olszewski 2-1-3 (Sack 1-7)
Clyde Moody 1-2-3
Rob Brooks 1-2-3 (Sack 1-3)
Marcus Walton 1-2-3 (FR 1)
Pat Pa'u 1-2-3
Fred Lazo 2-0-2
Mark Stetson 1-1-2
Jarrod Gomes 1-0-1
Derek Martinez 1-0-1
Brian Mann 1-0-1 (Sack 1-6)
Dennis Dottin-Carter 0-1-1
Maurice Garlic 0-1-1
Chris Jackson 0-1-1
BLACK BEARS WRAP-UP WORKOUTS WITH ANNUAL SPRING GAME
Dottin-Carter and Zyskowski named captains for 2003
ORONO, Maine - Both the Black Bear offense and defense put on outstanding performances as the University of Maine football team closed out spring practice with the annual Spring Game, Saturday evening on Morse Field in Orono.
This year's Spring Game was a controlled-situation scrimmage, with both the first and second teams on offense (Blue team) and defense (White team) getting the chance to show their stuff on drives starting from various starting points in the field.
The rules were simple: the offense must either get a first down or score, or they return to the starting point of the drive.
The first team offense, guided by freshman quarterback Ron Whitcomb (East Rochester, N.Y./East Rochester), nearly put some points on the board on the first drive of the day. Starting at their own 26-yard line, Whitcomb engineered a 13-play drive down to the White seven-yard line. The drive ended with defensive back Clinton Brown's (Yarmouth, Mass./Barnstable) hit on tailback Montell Owens (Wilmington, Del./Concord), causing a fumble that was scooped up by defensive lineman Marcus Walton (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains).
"I really felt like we played some good football on both sides of the ball," said Head Coach Jack Cosgrove. "The offense did some nice things moving the football - they had a 14-play drive, but ended up turning the thing over which is a credit to the defense. That was a great hit by Clinton Brown, responding down in the red zone."
The "Black Hole" defense allowed the defense to post just two first-downs over the next four drives, forcing the offense to start over on each occasion.
The Blue team finally reached the endzone on the game's sixth drive. Starting at the White 47-yard line, Whitcomb connected with sophomore wideout Ryan Waller (Chester, Va./L.C. Bird) on a 33-yard touchdown strike.
The next two offensive drives ended with field goals of 35 yards and 19 yards by Mike Mellow (Stonington, Conn./Stonington). Mellow connected on a total of four field goals during the scrimmage, and ended the day by connecting on a 50-yarder at the conclusion of the game.
The last five drives of the night started on the White 21-yard line, giving the Black Bears a chance to work on their red-zone offense and defense. Owens scored the game's only other touchdown, an 11-yard scoring rush, during one of those red-zone drives.
On the offense's next drive, Chris Legree's (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep) throw into the endzone was picked off by Clinton Brown.
Owens led the Black Bears on the ground with 49 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries, working with both the first and second teams. With junior tailback Marcus Williams (Amherst, Mass./Amherst) unavailable for the Spring Game, Owens was on the field for virtually every offensive play.
Whitcomb had 31 yards on six carries, while fullback Mike Zyskowski (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids CC) had five yards on two carries.
Whitcomb also had the best passing numbers among the three quarterbacks, completing six of eight attempts for 93 yards and one TD. Jon Meczywor (Lanesboro, Mass./Mt. Greylock) connected on five of his 14 attempts for 42 yards, while Legree was five of eight for 26 yards.
Ryan Waller led the receivers with four catches for 49 yards, followed by Kevin McMahan (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas) with 35 yards on four receptions. Steve Williams (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains) also had four receptions for 25 yards, while Dante Fusco (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck), Christian Pereira (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes), Ivi Nwosu (Bridgewater, Mass./Coyle Cassidy), and Owens had one receptions apiece.
Defensively, linebacker Matt King (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) led with eight tackles, while defensive back John Baumgartner (Carteret, N.J./Carteret), Jermaine Walker (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck), and Agean Robinson (Albany, N.Y./Albany Academy) had six tackles each. The "Black Hole" also logged four sacks during the game.
At the end of the day, Cosgrove found plenty to be happy about in Saturday's game, which closed out four weeks of practice sessions and scrimmages.
"I think we've got some skill developing on offense at quarterback; at the receiver position, we caught it well at times; and defensively, we showed the ability to rush the passer and to make some big plays," said Cosgrove. "We're pleased with the advances we made, the improvement we made, during the course of the spring. I know that we still have a lot of work to do before we get to preseason, but I know the coaches are excited to be working with this group of guys. We got a lot out of them this spring, and expect to get a lot more out of them next preseason."
Prior to Saturday night's game, Cosgrove and his staff presented achievement awards from the spring and named the 2003 team captains.
Freshman defensive lineman Mike DeVito (Wellfleet, Mass./Wellfleet) received the "First-Year Maine Man Award," given to the first-year player who makes the biggest overall improvement during winter strength and conditioning workouts. Junior defensive lineman Pat Pa'u (Ayer, Mass./Ayer) received the "Maine Man Award" for the upper classes.
Whitcomb was named the Most Improved Player on offense for spring 2003, while fifth-year senior lineman Fred Lazo (East Patchaque, N.Y./Bellport) was the Most Improved Player on defense. Sophomore Joan Quezada (Union City, N.J./Emerson) received the Most Improved Player award for special teams.
Senior defensive lineman Dennis Dottin-Carter (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin) and fullback Mike Zyskowski were named team captains for 2003.
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE 2003 SPRING GAME STATISTICS
Rushing (No.-Yds.)
Montell Owens 24-49 (1 TD)
Ron Whitcomb 6-31
Mike Zyskowski 2-5
Chris Legree 8-3
Jon Meczywor 6-1
Passing (Att.-Comp.-I-TD, Yds.)
Chris Legree 8-5-1-0, 26 yds.
Jon Meczywor 14-5-0-0, 42 yds.
Ron Whitcomb 8-6-0-1, 93 yds.
Receiving (No.-Yds.)
Ryan Waller 4-49 (1 TD)
Kevin McMahan 4-35
Steve Williams 4-25
Dante Fusco 1-22
Christian Pereira 1-15
Ivi Nwosu 1-11
Montell Owens 1-4
Defensive Leaders UA-AT-TT (Other)
Matt King 4-4-8
John Baumgartner 4-2-6
Jermaine Walker 4-2-6
Agean Robinson 1-5-6
Justin Knox 3-2-5 (Sack 1-10)
Alex Goyins 2-2-4
Dan Joslyn 2-2-4
Clinton Brown 2-1-3 (Int. 1-0, FF 1)
Joan Quezada 2-1-3
Joe Olszewski 2-1-3 (Sack 1-7)
Clyde Moody 1-2-3
Rob Brooks 1-2-3 (Sack 1-3)
Marcus Walton 1-2-3 (FR 1)
Pat Pa'u 1-2-3
Fred Lazo 2-0-2
Mark Stetson 1-1-2
Jarrod Gomes 1-0-1
Derek Martinez 1-0-1
Brian Mann 1-0-1 (Sack 1-6)
Dennis Dottin-Carter 0-1-1
Maurice Garlic 0-1-1
Chris Jackson 0-1-1
