Boston College Athletics
Young Eagles Shine In First Spring Football Scrimmage
March 27, 2004 | Football
March 27, 2004
Redshirt freshman running back Andre Callender (Roselle, NJ) gained 88 yards on 18 carries while fellow redshirt freshman L.V. Whitworth (Milton, MA) rushed 17 times for 51 yards in Boston College's first intrasquad scrimmage of the spring practice season Saturday afternoon in Alumni Stadium.
Sophomore Jeff Ross (Lowell, MA) picked up 32 yards on 12 carries. Callender, Whitworth and Ross are battling to secure the starting tailback spot vacated by departing all-time rushing leader Derrick Knight.
"I think we had a good first start today," Head Coach Tom O'Brien said. "I liked what I saw out of the young running backs. The most important thing was that we did not fumble the ball."
Senior quarterback Quinton Porter (Portland, ME) completed 9-of-18 passes for 100 yards and one touchdown, a 12-yard strike to senior Joel Hazard (Marietta, GA). Redshirt freshman Matt Ryan (Exton, PA) took the rest of the snaps for the Eagles and completed 7-of-20 passes for 96 yards, 51 of them on a bomb to senior Grant Adams (Glen Rock, NJ), who led all receivers (two catches for 76 yards).
Hazard finished with three catches for 26 yards and the touchdown, while junior Larry Lester (Piscataway, NJ) caught two passes for 18 yards and Ross grabbed two passes for 21 yards. Senior place-kicker Mike Fassel (Ho Ho Kus, NJ) connected on field goals from 23, 28 and 42 yards while junior William Troost (Bethesda, MD) connected on a 35-yarder.
On defense, redshirt freshman defensive end Nick Larkin (Cincinnati, OH) stood out with four quarterback sacks.
"Defensively, again, some of our young guys stood out," O'Brien said. "Larkin had a nice day out there, which was a positive, especially since he did not get a lot of practice time last year because of injuries."
Quarterback Paul Peterson (ankle), offensive tackle Shadu Moore (stomach), offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus (ankle) and defensive tackle Danny Zepp (hip) sat out Saturday's scrimmage.
"As I told our team, this is only a starting point," O'Brien said. "We've got a lot of work to do and a long way to go, and I expect improvement this week before we scrimmage again next Saturday."
