Spring Game Set to Kickoff Saturday at 11 a.m.

[valpo04]

Valparaiso will play its annual spring Brown and Gold football game Saturday morning at Brown Field beginning at 11 a.m. This year’s format will feature the offense against the defense and admission is free.

The game is the culmination of 15 days of spring practice, and will be the first spring game at Valpo for new head coach Dale Carlson.

“This spring has been very productive,” Carlson said. “Our first order of business was teaching our team how our staff wanted them to practice. We are leaving spring practice with greater understanding of that.”

The scoring for this year’s game has been set, and for the offense will play like a normal game for touchdowns, PATs, and field goals. In addition, the offense can get a point for three consecutive first downs, while also picking up a point for a run play of more than 10 yards or a pass play longer than 15 yards.

The defense still scores six points for a touchdown and two points for a safety, but can tally three points for a turnover or a three-and-out. A sack will allow the defense to garner two points while a sudden change, where the offense gets the ball inside the 35 yard line and does not score or is held to a field goal, will net them four points.

“As a staff, we needed to see how our players would respond to the new offensive and defensive systems,” Carlson said. “We have made good progress on both sides of the ball. However, there is a lot of work to do before we open the season against Western Illinois.”

Carlson currently has 71 returnees on the roster from the 2009 season. The Crusaders will open the 2010 regular season on Thursday night, September 2, against Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

www.valpoathletics.com/news/default/147/9829/

[fwalum]

Was anyone at the game? It would be interesting to hear if attitudes of change are in the air.

[vuweathernerd]

some people came into the bookstore yesterday while i was working, and said that it was a pretty good showing. they didn't dive much into the details, but they're optimistic for the fall.

[vu75]

The most encouraging thing is that the offense seems to have a real purpose. It's quite a departure from the old system where it seemed as if every snap was a delay play. This a quick read, quick hitting offense, get the ball to the point of attack as quickly as possible, then as soon as the play was over the coaches were screaming "line up ..line up". Wysocki looked good. Upshaw was harder to judge because this game was geared to keeping the quaterback out of harms way and if he can't run he's less effective.

[valpo04]

Gold Defeats Brown 51-32 in Annual Spring Game

Spring practice came to a close at Valparaiso University on Saturday morning at Brown Field as the Gold defeated the Brown 51-32 at the annual spring game.

The game used a modified scoring system with points as the offense (gold) battled the defense (brown).

“I liked out tempo today,” head coach Dale Carlson said. “Our players got an idea of how quickly we want to move the football in a game setting.”

The Gold posted the day’s first big play as Bobby Wysocki (Calumet City, Ill./Thornwood H.S.) connected with Eric Slenk (Holland, Mich./Christian H.S.) on a 55-yard touchdown pass early in the opening quarter.

JaVon Welch (Grand Rapids, Mich./Ottawa Hills H.S.) proved the Brown with its first big play, intercepting a pass midway through the first quarter. Josh Keatley (Woodstock, Ohio/Triad H.S.) added a touchdown for the Golf on the final play of the opening period, a 1-yard run, to give the offense a 24-7 lead.

Chrision Rasberry (Chicago, Ill./King College Prep H.S.) intercepted the second play of the second quarter to add points on the scoreboard for the Brown. Andrezj Skiba (Homewood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor H.S.) booted a pair of second quarter field goals for the Gold in the second, one from 24 yards and another from 44 yards after connecting from 43 yards out in the first.

Nate Goergen (Golden, Colo./Golden H.S.) added a 15-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Niehus (Oak Park, Ill./Pak Park & River Forest H.S.) with 40 seconds remaining before halftime to give the Gold a 45-22 lead at the break.

After playing the first half under normal timing rules as two 15 minute quarters, the third quarter was played as a 12-minute running clock.

Matt Heinen (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte H.S.) made another big play for the defense in the third quarter, recovering a fumble in the backfield and returning it about 10 yards. Gold led the Brown 49-30 after three quarters.

The final quarter was played as a two-minute drill with 1:50 on the clock with the Gold starting on the 35-yard line. A third down 25-yard completion from Matt Upshaw (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central H.S.) to David Coneys (Sebastian, Fla./Sebastian River H.S.) kept the drive alive. The Brown registered a sack at the 12-yard line on first and goal with 13 seconds to play and held the offense from scoring on the final play of the game.

“We had some positive plays both rushing and passing,” Carlson added. “The defense got some good stops and adjusted nicely in coverage.