It was the gold team that took home the bragging rights on Friday night, defeating the green team 28-14. The gold side used the combination of turnovers and long touchdown passes to topple the green side.
It was an unexpected way for the scoring to start, but with 6:14 left in the opening quarter Justin Williams made a house call with a 50 yard interception return for a touchdown to give the gold squad an early 7-0 lead. The gold offense provided the next points, seeing lanky wide receiver Victor Talley make a catch and run 60 yards to the end zone to make it 14-0.
The green side finally got on the board before the end of the opening half, using a effective ground game to do so. Running back Pedro Velasco rumbled in for a touchdown from 17 yards out to pull the green team to within a score at 14-7.
In the 4th quarter the gold team turned miscues into points, using Zach Goecke's interception of Riley Adolph to do so. After the turnover, the gold team pounded the ball into the end zone from 21 yards out using JaQuan Hardy's physical running style to make it a 21-7 game. Later on in the 4th quarter Nick Watson connected on a 44 yard pass to Charles Holland to make it a three score game at 28-7.
The green team did add a late score, putting points on the board with two seconds remaining as Zachary Exalus snagged an eight yard fade to the back corner of the end zone to bring the score to 28-14.
Head Coach Gary Goff was a happy man after the game, saying, "We're very excited about how all the guys showed up everyday to work. One of our goals going into this spring season is to be the most excited team on the field, most physical team on the field, and most disciplined team on the field." Coach Goff was also relieved that there were no "major injuries coming out of camp." When asked about his thoughts on the spring game Goff said, "Overall I think both sides played well, but I'm just happy the spring is over, and that we're healthy."
The Dragons will begin the 2018 regular season at the friendly confines of Frost-Kalnow Stadium on Saturday, September 1, at 7:00 p.m. against Northwood University.