Junior quarterback Lyle Moevao passed for 226 yards and Justin Kahut booted four field goals to lead the White team to a 22-3 victory in the annual Spring Game at Reser Stadium, marking the last of the scrimmages in Division I football. The 80-minute game was played in front of 6,852 on a mostly sunny day.
Kahut, a sophomore who appeared in one game last season (Idaho State), had people thinking school record holding kicker Alexis Serna won’t be missed this season. The Clackamas High School graduate was successful on kicks of 55 and 50 yards which drew some of the biggest cheers of the day.
“[Kahut] has all the leg you want and he kicks it high,” Riley said. “He’s a tough-minded guy and we have had a lot of confidence in him from the time he got here. He’s paid his dues behind Alexis and now it’s time for him to step up.”
There were no touchdowns until the second half, when starting running back Ryan McCants scored from two yards out. The biggest play during the regular scrimmage was Moevao’s short swing pass to James Rodgers that turned into a 72-yard sprint to the end zone. Junior receiver Damola Adeniji scored on a 76-yard pass from Brennan Sim during an unofficial part of the scrimmage.
“I liked the flow of the day – they played the game pretty well,” Riley said of the scrimmage. “We didn’t turn the ball over much – overall, I thought they just played football and they played within the time frame pretty well.
McCants did nothing to hurt his chances on his claim as the next outstanding back on offense. The redshirt-freshman rushed 16 times for 57 yards and proved to be a tough tackle. Rodgers added 12 yards on three carries to go with his 96 yards on four receptions.
“We’ve got a lot of things to continually sharpen up,” Riley said. “There were pictures of a lot of parts today. I thought we played hard, but it all has to get better to win games. But, overall it was a pretty good day.”
The football team won’t return to the field for practice for the 2008 regular season until Aug. 1, with reporting day July 31.
-dailybarometer.com
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