March 13, 2004

Charleston, SC - Junior quarterback Ryan Moody scored the lone touchdown of the day on a one-yard option keeper to propel the Blue team past the White, 7-3 in The Citadel's final scrimmage of the spring Saturday morning in Johnson Hagood Stadium.

"We had great effort out here today and we saw a lot of good things," first-year head coach John Zernhelt stated. "The defense continues to be the highlight of the spring as they are making some really big hits and keeping the offense out of the end zone."

The defense held the offense for most of the day and when the offense would put a drive together the Dogs' defense would force a turnover. On the day, the defense forced two fumbles; intercepted two passes and came away with two sacks. The two sacks both came from sophomore defensive end James Wilson, while the interceptions came from safety Brandon Hawkins and linebacker Chris Myers. The offense showed signs of improvement on the day, as they were able to string together longer drives and run the ball effectively. Senior quarterback Justin Hardin continues to be the story of the spring as he completed 13-of-18 passes for 89 yards and no interceptions. Hardin engineered the only scoring drive of the day for the white team as sophomore kicker Blake Vandiver drilled a 38-yard field goal to cap off the series.

"I feel comfortable with Justin running the team entering the summer," Zernhelt stated. "He has done a good job running the offense and not making mistakes. Our offense still needs to get better at sustaining drives and scoring but I feel we have made good strides this spring in that area."

The running backs did their share in today's scrimmage as four backs carried the pigskin a bulk of the time. Tailback Chris Gibbs led the ground attack as he rushed 16 times for 70 yards, while Ern Mills added 10 carries for 49 yards. Redshirt freshmen Marcus Brown and Terrell Williams also saw significant action.