Sonoraville shows potential, depth in Spring Game
Phoenix make plays on both sides of the ball, scrimmage ends in tie
Sonoraville fans got a little taste of what’s to come this Fall as the Phoenix held their annual Spring Game to conclude two weeks of practice on Friday.
While the game ended in a 7-7 tie between the Gray and White teams, there were positives to draw from on both sides of the ball for both squads.
Sonoraville head coach Denver Pate, who just completed his first Spring Practice leading the team after being named to the head job on April 27, said he was pleased with what he saw on Friday to wrap up a productive two weeks.
“We wanted to see the kids get after it a little bit and compete,” said Pate. “We’re pushing them to compete on the field, in the weight room and in practice, and we continued that push tonight. We saw some kids flying around on defense. Lane Moore looked good, and Robbie Hogg had a good game. Those were just a couple. The defense on both sides made it tough on the offense. In the back end, I thought we saw what we need to out of the secondary, coming up and making plays.
“Overall, I think it was a productive scrimmage. We got all the kids on film so we can go back now and see what fits and see what we need to change. It was a learning experience for a lot of these kids, but in the Spring you can do that. We feel pretty good about the things we can do going forward with this team.”
The game got off to a quick start as the Gray offense took the ball right down the field on the opening drive and scored a touchdown to go up 7-0. Casey Brooks had a couple nice catches on the drive, and quarterback Blade Bryant punctuated the march with a 10-yard TD run. Dawson Holbrook followed by nailing the extra point.
The White offense responded with a long drive as they looked like they were going to even things up, but they were eventually turned away by the Gray defense. Tristan Key had a long run on the drive, and quarterback Patrick Moore connected on a pass to Gavin Phillips to set up a first-and-goal. But on fourth-and-goal, Moore rolled out and was sacked by the Gray’s Hunter Brock to end the drive.
The two teams alternated possessions after that with neither coming away with points, and the Gray took their 7-0 lead into the half.
Following a White team punt to start the second half, the White team defense came up with a big play when they needed it as Will Pritchett recovered a Gray team fumble to set his team’s offense up in opposing territory.
The White came up with their lone touchdown on the ensuing drive as Moore connected with Key out of the backfield for a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-7 after Evellio Rosillo knocked through the extra point. Wes McCormick had a big catch on the drive as well to set up the touchdown.