NSUDemon98
April 1st, 2007, 05:31 PM
NATCHITOCHES – Sophomores Germayne Edmond and Patrick Earl shared the Most Valuable Player honor Thursday night in the 17th Annual Joe Delaney Bowl spring football game at Northwestern State, with Demons coach Scott Stoker beaming after a crisply-played 27-21 win by the White team in the intrasquad contest capping spring practice.
Edmond, who wrapped up his true freshman season last fall as the starting quarterback, threw for 229 yards including touchdowns of 66 yards to Dudley Guice and 42 yards to Kenneth Charles. Completing 10 of 21 with no interceptions, he also ran for 44 yards on seven carries while steering the White team to 408 total yards, an average of 6.6 per play.
Earl, a 215-pound tailback, stacked up 147 yards rushing, 95 after halftime, on 21 carries, including a 3-yard scoring dive for the White. He averaged seven yards per carry and had a long of 29 yards while mixing a physical style with some nifty cuts.
Junior college transfer quarterback Drew Branch was a strong contender for the MVP award in media voting. He threw for 162 yards, hitting 12 of 19 passes and suffering one interception for the Purple team. Branch threw a perfectly-threaded 3-yard touchdown to fullback Quinten Goodie and dropped in a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jasper Edwards.
“That was about everything we could ask for in the Delaney Bowl,” said Stoker after the two-hour contest in front of nearly 1,000 fans at Turpin Stadium. “We got to work nearly every situation without having to jump in and create anything as coaches, and the game came down to the end. The players gave the kind of effort we’ve gotten all spring and that’s why it’s been such a good spring.
“We come out of this game a better football team not only than we were at this point last season, but better than we were at any point last season,” said Stoker. “There’s a lot to like about this team.”
Junior linebacker Mack Dampier led all defenders with 10 takcles and forced a fumble. Senior defensive end Ray Martin had three tackles for lost yardage, including a pair of sacks, while sophomore linebacker Isaiah Greenhouse had two and a half sacks.
The game was in doubt until redshirt freshman safety Wesley Eckles intercepted a Branch pass near midfield with 1:36 remaining and the White team ran out the clock.
Edmond’s 66-yard connection with Guice started the scoring eight minutes into the game. Branch threw both his touchdown passes in a 19-second span in the second quarter, sandwiched around a fumble recovery at the White’s 32 by redshirt freshman defensive tackle Dennis Clark.
The interception and fumble were the only turnovers. There were only six penalties called by the Southland Conference officiating crew for a total of 40 yards.
Junior kicker Robert Weeks hit field goals of 22 and 41 yards and all three conversion kicks. Sophomore Lee Scott had a 51-yard field goal wiped out by a penalty, then hit the crossbar and didn’t get the bounce on the ensuing 56-yard try early in the game. He also made all three of his conversion tries.
The shared MVP honors marked only the third time in Delaney Bowl history that co-MVPs were elected, the last time in 1997, when current NFL cornerback Kenny Wright and Delaney’s cousin, linebacker Alja Delaney, shared the award.
Some of the top players in school history, including All-Pro Buffalo Bills star Terrence McGee, career passing leader Brad Laird, All-American defensive tackle Tory Collins, All-American linebacker Andre Carron and Wright have won the Delaney Bowl MVP award.
Edmond, who wrapped up his true freshman season last fall as the starting quarterback, threw for 229 yards including touchdowns of 66 yards to Dudley Guice and 42 yards to Kenneth Charles. Completing 10 of 21 with no interceptions, he also ran for 44 yards on seven carries while steering the White team to 408 total yards, an average of 6.6 per play.
Earl, a 215-pound tailback, stacked up 147 yards rushing, 95 after halftime, on 21 carries, including a 3-yard scoring dive for the White. He averaged seven yards per carry and had a long of 29 yards while mixing a physical style with some nifty cuts.
Junior college transfer quarterback Drew Branch was a strong contender for the MVP award in media voting. He threw for 162 yards, hitting 12 of 19 passes and suffering one interception for the Purple team. Branch threw a perfectly-threaded 3-yard touchdown to fullback Quinten Goodie and dropped in a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jasper Edwards.
“That was about everything we could ask for in the Delaney Bowl,” said Stoker after the two-hour contest in front of nearly 1,000 fans at Turpin Stadium. “We got to work nearly every situation without having to jump in and create anything as coaches, and the game came down to the end. The players gave the kind of effort we’ve gotten all spring and that’s why it’s been such a good spring.
“We come out of this game a better football team not only than we were at this point last season, but better than we were at any point last season,” said Stoker. “There’s a lot to like about this team.”
Junior linebacker Mack Dampier led all defenders with 10 takcles and forced a fumble. Senior defensive end Ray Martin had three tackles for lost yardage, including a pair of sacks, while sophomore linebacker Isaiah Greenhouse had two and a half sacks.
The game was in doubt until redshirt freshman safety Wesley Eckles intercepted a Branch pass near midfield with 1:36 remaining and the White team ran out the clock.
Edmond’s 66-yard connection with Guice started the scoring eight minutes into the game. Branch threw both his touchdown passes in a 19-second span in the second quarter, sandwiched around a fumble recovery at the White’s 32 by redshirt freshman defensive tackle Dennis Clark.
The interception and fumble were the only turnovers. There were only six penalties called by the Southland Conference officiating crew for a total of 40 yards.
Junior kicker Robert Weeks hit field goals of 22 and 41 yards and all three conversion kicks. Sophomore Lee Scott had a 51-yard field goal wiped out by a penalty, then hit the crossbar and didn’t get the bounce on the ensuing 56-yard try early in the game. He also made all three of his conversion tries.
The shared MVP honors marked only the third time in Delaney Bowl history that co-MVPs were elected, the last time in 1997, when current NFL cornerback Kenny Wright and Delaney’s cousin, linebacker Alja Delaney, shared the award.
Some of the top players in school history, including All-Pro Buffalo Bills star Terrence McGee, career passing leader Brad Laird, All-American defensive tackle Tory Collins, All-American linebacker Andre Carron and Wright have won the Delaney Bowl MVP award.