North Continues Their Dominance Over South: North converts on numerous South turnovers

Petersburg, VA – It was a beautiful fall day at Historic Cameron Field for the 7th Annual East Coast Bowl. The North college all-stars had a secret weapon in kicker, Piotr Czech (Wagner). Czech was good for an East Coast Bowl record five (5) field goals, all in the first half.
The South’s offense came out hot with quarterback Casey Hansen connecting with wide receiver Virgil Union (Lane) for a big third down conversion to move the ball into North territory. The turnover woes started quickly after this when quarterback Casey Hansen (Norfolk State) fumbled on a roll out and Blair Boynton (Northern Arizona) recovered and advanced the ball to the South 31 yard line. The South defense was able to stop the North and on fourth down Piotr Czech made his longest but definitely not the last field goal of the day, a 46-yard attempt. On the insuring kickoff Stephon Rhea (Stephen F. Austin) fumbled the ball and the North recovered again. The North had three plays from inside the ten-yard line but due to a stiff South defense led by LB’s Will Clewis (Central Oklahoma), Thaddeus Griffin (Winston-Salem State), and Jada Ross (Charleston Southern) they were stoned at the goal line, setting up a Czech 20-yard field goal. In the longest scoring drive of the first half North RB Jason Butler (Wagner) carried the ball 5 times for 21 yards setting up Czech for his third field goal of the half. The highlight for the South squad came on the next kickoff when DB Denetay Heard (Stillman) found a seam on the North sideline and returned the kick 97 yards for the only score of the day for the South. The North scored two more times in the half off of Czech field goals but it wasn’t easy breaking through the tough South defense with the Norfolk State defensive line duo of Eric Bullock and Sherron Williams both combining for big sacks.
The North teams problems with getting into the end zone against the stout South defense ended with the first possession of the second half. In a five play 65-yard drive, which included two completions from Kyle Spotts (Kutztown) to Tyler McNitt (Nebraska-Kearney) for a total of 60 yards. Spotts found college teammate Elfren Quiles three plays later for a 2-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed on a run by Butler. Spotts was the leading passer on the day by completing 11 of 19 passes for 120 yards. The North team hounded the South quarterbacks all day stacking up 7 sacks led by defensive linemen Boynton, Bruno Dorismond (Maine), David Tash (Iona), Jake Owens (Fairmont State), and Courtney Coard (North Carolina Central). After a Zac Atterberry (Lindenwood) punt the South offense took the field in hopes of making the score closer. After 5 successive runs by Donald Chapman (Tennessee-Martin), Michael Terry (Virginia State) was sacked on third down for a 9-yard loss, which led to another punt. The South defense held strong again forcing a fumble as Jimmy Judd (Southern Utah) tackled Jason Butler in the backfield and Jada Ross recovered. The South couldn’t score off the turnover when their attempt at a 56 yard field goal off the foot of Rob Zarrilli (Hofstra) came up short and was caught at the back of the end zone by DB RoShaun Fellows (Tennessee) and returned it 52 yards to the North 43. After North QB Todd Spitzer (Western Carolina) and Hansen exchanged interceptions Spitzer found Joshua Floyd (Chowan) for a 39-yard touchdown down the sideline on what turned out to be Spitzer’s only completion of the game. The South’s next drive started off very promising with Matt Bassuener (Georgetown) completing his first pass to Matt Mulligan (Maine) for 14 yards, but after a completion to receptions record holder Nick Smart (Southwest Baptist) for no gain and a incomplete pass intended for Norfolk State wide out Rashad Howard his next pass was intercepted by Al Phillips (Wagner). Spotts decided to showcase all of his abilities on the next drive by completing three passes including a 1 yard touchdown pass to Floyd as well as breaking away from the defense for an 18 yard gain on a QB scramble. The last possession of the game for the South wasn’t anymore successful than any other in the game. Quarterback Michael Terry was sacked on first down by Tash and after a short 5-yard gain from Donald Chapman, Terry found WR Virgil Union (Lane) for a gain of 25 yards. The next three plays all featured Terry throwing incomplete passes trying to make something happen for his team. James Paul (Central Arkansas) came in to punt for the 5th time and the North passed and ran the clock out to beat the South 35-7. This was the biggest scoring difference in the 7-year history of the East Coast Bowl.
The game featured 71 of the best Division I-FCS, II, III and NAIA players from 33 different states. All revenue generated from this event is used to award a high school student who will attend a Division I-FCS, II, III or NAIA college with financial assistance. For more information on the East Coast Bowl please visit our website at www.petersburgsports.com/eastcoastbowl or call the office at (804) 722-0141.