Youngsters and walk-ons handled a good portion of the snaps after the first quarter, but it was still an entertaining game. The Gold Team hung on for a 17-14 victory as multiple youngsters showed flashes of their potential.
Tommy Rees played four series for the Gold while Dayne Crist piloted the Blue offense for its first three drives.
Rees completed seven of his 14 passes for 61 yards. He led the Gold Team on a 10-play, 55-yard drive that was capped with a 32-yard field goal by Kyle Brindza, but those were the only points produced by Rees, who was also picked off once.
Crist was 5-for-11 for just 34 yards, but he did lead his squad to a pair of Nick Tausch field goals. Cierre Wood carried the ball seven times for 39 times for the Blue Team while Jonas Gray had 16 yards on five carries for the Gold.
Everett Golson and Andrew Hendrix replaced Crist and Rees, respectively, early in the second quarter. Golson looked comfortable running and throwing and connected on four of his first eight passes for 41 yards while rushing for 18 yards on three carries in the first half. Hendrix completed four of his seven first-half passes for 55 yards and carried the ball three times for 12 carries, but neither produced any points before intermission.
After the Blue Team failed to convert a 4th-and-7 on the opening drive of the second half, Hendrix led the Gold Team on a nine-play, 56-yard scoring drive, which he capped with a tough 15-yard touchdown run to give his squad a 10-6 lead.
Golson was stripped by Ishaq Williams on the first play of the next series and Brandon Newman recovered by the Gold Team at the Blue Team’s 26-yard line. Hendrix barreled in the end zone on another 10-yard keeper a few plays later to give the Gold a 17-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Golson followed an amazing 23-yard run with a beautiful 15-yard fade to John Goodman for a touchdown. Golson dove in for the two-point conversion, cutting the Gold’s lead to 17-14, but with a running clock in the second half, the Blue Team never got the ball back.
Hendrix finished with 113 yards on 10 of 16 passing with 37 rushing yards and the two touchdowns on five carries. Golson finished 9-for-18 for 91 yards and the scoring pass along with 62 yards rushing on 11 carries.
Aaron Lynch was the most exciting defensive player and caused havoc in the backfield almost effortlessly. Walk-on running back Patrick Coughlin played for both teams after the starters were removed and finished with 42 yards on 11 carries.
Robby Toma caught six passes for 64 yards and Deion Walker had five catches for 56 yards for the Gold Team. Alex Welch led the Blue Team with four catches for 34 yards while TJ Jones pulled down three passes for 33 yards and Goodman had three receptions for 30 yards.
