4/5/2003 - Football
Mids Conduct First Scrimmage Of The Spring

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Navy head football coach Paul Johnson put the Midshipmen through its first scrimmage of the spring Saturday morning on Rip Miller field. The Mids ran 140 plays in the brisk 90-minute scrimmage.

"I thought there were some decent things on both sides of the ball," said Johnson. "It's really hard to say until you watch the film. The third group fumbled the ball about every third play, but we have a lot of young guys out there playing."

Both sides of the ball had their moments as the offense scored three touchdowns and kicked three field goals, while the defense forced nine turnovers and scored a touchdown.

Michael Brimage was the leading rusher in the scrimmage with 89 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Frank Divis rushed for 50 yards on four carries, while Eric Roberts had 45 yards rushing and a touchdown on two carries.

Roberts and quarterback Lamar Owens hooked up for the play of the day when Owens ran 32 yards on an option keeper and then flipped the ball to Roberts as he was being tackled. Roberts caught the pitch and ran the remaining 43 yards for a touchdown. "That was a beautiful play that Lamar made," said Johnson.

Aaron Polanco completed three of his eight pass attempts for 70 yards and a touchdown, while Owens was 4-10 passing for 38 yards.

Roberts was the leading receiver with two catches for 55 yards and a touchdown, while Cory Dryden had three catches for 32 yards.

"I thought the first offensive unit did some good things. They moved the ball for the most part. You're not going to score a lot of touchdowns when you have to move it 75 yards every time."

On defense, the Mids had nine different players come up with turnovers. Reggie Sealey had the defensive play of the day as he sacked Owens and then picked up his fumble and rumbled 25 yards for a touchdown. The defense also got fumble recoveries from Scott Szurovy, Garrett Houston, Jeff Vanak, Steve Adair, Adam Horne and Jason Monts. Josh Smith and Roman Rodriguez picked off passes.

"I thought the defense made some plays today which was good to see," said Johnson. "I thought guys flew around on the defensive side of the ball."

Navy's field goal kickers were a perfect three-for-three on the day. Eric Rolfs made his kick from 34 yards out, Geoff Blumenfeld was good from 42 yards and Eric Shuey knocked one home from 32 yards.

The Mids will practice next week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4 p.m. and will scrimmage next Saturday at 9 a.m. All of Navy's practices and scrimmages will be held on the Navy practice fields and are open to the public.