Offense, Defense Square Off in 2018 Black & Gold Spring Game
4/14/2018 3:17:00 PM | Football
COLUMBIA, Mo – On Saturday at Memorial Stadium, Mizzou concluded its 2018 Spring Camp with the annual Black & Gold Game. In the scrimmage, which featured standard scoring and pitted the offense (black) versus the defense (gold), both sides turned in big highlights, with the offense scoring four touchdowns and a field goal, while the defense had a pair of interceptions and tallied seven pass breakups of their own. The final score stood at 30-0 in favor of the offense.
The offense got going in the second quarter as senior QB Drew Lock (Lee's Summit, Mo.) connected with junior WR Jonathan Johnson (Memphis, Tenn.) on a 6-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-goal. In limited action, Lock, who led the nation and set Mizzou and Southeastern Conference season records in 2017 with 44 touchdown passes, finished 7-of-13 passing for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Junior QB Jack Lowary (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and redshirt freshman QB Taylor Powell (Fayetteville, Ark.) added touchdown passes of their own during the action. Lowary threw a 29-yard pass to sophomore WR Harry Ballard (Florissant, Mo.), while Powell went deep for a 65-yard connection to freshman WR Dominic Gicinto (Raytown, Mo.).
Redshirt freshman RB Ezra Vaoifi (Independence, Mo.) scored a touchdown in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to account for the final score. Sophomore RB Dawson Downing (Mission, Kan.) led all runners for Mizzou on the day with 13 rushing attempts for a total of 49 yards. Junior RB Damarea Crocket (Little Rock, Ark.) also added six rushing attempts for 24 yards.
The balanced offensive outing included 52 pass attempts, and 48 rushes on the day. Fifteen different Tigers caught passes during the scrimmage, led by Downing, who caught a game-high three passes for 16 yards. Six Tigers caught two passes on the day, led by junior WR Justin Smith (52 yards) and senior WR Nate Brown (25 yards).
The Tiger defense was stout in the first quarter, holding the offense scoreless. For the day, sophomore LB Aubrey Miller (Memphis, Tenn.) led the team in total tackles with 10. Junior DB DeMarkus Acy (Dallas, Texas) and redshirt freshman LB Alec Pierce (Visalia, Calif.) each recorded interceptions. Acy finished with three tackles in all, while Pierce had two stops, including a tackle for loss. Senior DT Walter Palmore (Columbus, Ga.) recorded the only sack of the game.
Special teams got their chance to shine as well, and junior PK Tucker McCann (O'Fallon, Ill) went 3-for-3 on extra points, while senior PK Nick Bartolotta (St. Louis, Mo.) hit the only field goal attempt of the game – a 21-yarder late in fourth quarter. Senior punter Corey Fatony (Franklin, Tenn.) averaged 42.8 yards on the day, recording a 58-yard punt in the third quarter.
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