Cherry and White Game Recap: After slow start, offense took over
Written by: Adrian Maghacot and Zack Silverstein
Photo by: Andrew Mayo
Temple football hosted its annual Cherry & White spring game at Edberg-Olson Hall Saturday in front of an enthusiastic crowd of Owls supporters.
Several big names were in attendance, including current Bills linebacker Tyler Matakevich, NFL free agent Matt Ioannidis, and men’s basketball head coach Adam Fisher.
The day consisted of different game-like scenarios. First-string players took the field first, followed by second-string players, then third-string players for live scrimmaging. This pattern continued throughout each drive and/or scenario.
Drive-By-Drive
-Defense leads 3 to -1 (drive ended with a sack)
-Defense leads 11 to 5 (drive ended with a Camden Price 41-yard field goal)
-Defense 15 to 11 (drive ended with a Sam Martin Jr. interception)
-Offense 22 to 15 (drive ended with a touchdown pass from EJ Warner to Landon Morris and PAT by Camden Price)
-Offense 33 to 15 (drive ended with a touchdown pass to Tyler Douglas to Shakuna Kamara and PAT by Chris Van Eekeren)
-Offense 40 to 15 (drive ended with a touchdown pass from Darvon Hubbard to Amad Anderson Jr. and PAT by Camden Price)
-Offense 40 to 19 (drive ended with a missed field goal by Chris Van Eekeren)
-Offense 43 to 21 (drive ended with a field goal by Camden Price)
-Offense 50 to 21 (drive ended with a Darvon Hubbard touchdown and PAT by Chris Van Eekeren)
-Offense 53 to 23 (drive ended with a field goal by Camden Price)
-Offense 64 to 23 (drive ended with a touchdown pass from EJ Warner to Zae Baines and PAT by Camden Price)
-Offense 65 to 25 (drive ended with a Dante Atton punt)
–Offense 65 to 28 (drive ended with a turnover)
Official scoring stopped after the completion of the first half, meaning the official final score of the game was Offense 65, Defense 28.
Who Stood Out?
Offense:
-Sophomore quarterback E.J. Warner – 15/23 passing, 152 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception
-Freshman running back Kyle Williams – 5 carries, 47 rushing yards
-Redshirt-senior wide receiver Amad Anderson Jr. – 4 catches, 58 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
Defense:
-Redshirt-Junior safety Elijah Deravil – 5 tackles
-Graduate defensive lineman Lancine Turay – 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss
-Redshirt-Freshman safety Sam Martin – 1 interception
Words From The Owls
After the event, head coach Stan Drayton and six players spoke to the media. Here are the links to each person that spoke to the media:
Below are excerpts of their sessions.
Drayton on the goals of Cherry and White Day:
“It’s another opportunity to get better as a football team, and we can’t take that for granted. We didn’t show a whole lot schematically but we still came out and we hit and we tackled. That’s something that showed up today in a positive light…We got done what we needed to get done.”
Drayton on Warner’s development over the spring:
“E.J. has had a phenomenal spring. He continues to grow as a person and is becoming a leader. He’s got a lot of people following him right now, and I think he’s handling that very well…He’s our guy and we’re rallying behind him.”
Warner on his first college spring practice season:
“It was so much fun. Being with those guys for 15 days this spring, playing the sport we love, that’s why we came here. Have a ball, talk trash, make plays; it’s been good…It’s been really good, I’m having a great time, and I love those guys.”
Warner on his improvement this offseason:
“I think definitely leadership. I think coming in last year as a young guy, I didn’t try to use my voice too much. I tried to earn that respect through my play. I think these guys respect me now because I’ve put in the work and put in the time and we can come out here and they’ll listen to me.”
Graduate tight end David Martin-Robinson on the development of the tight ends:
“We’ve got a bunch of young guys in my room [tight ends room] that want to learn and want to be on the field, so that makes it a lot easier when you’re talking to them.”
Demerick Morris on former defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot’s departure:
“Coach Withers is a really good defensive coordinator, and there was really no drop off from it. Once we got the news that he got the promotion, we congratulated him and didn’t flinch.”
What’s Next?
The Owls will play Akron in their season opener Sep. 2 at Lincoln Financial Field.
