Posted on Sun, Apr. 13, 2008
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Fletcher, Davis lead USM's spring game
Coach happy with no injuries
By AL JONES
afjones@sunherald.com
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Football
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HATTIESBURG --
Southern Miss' annual spring football game kicked off the Larry Fedora Era on Saturday before an M.M. Roberts Stadium crowd of 11,126.It was junior running back Damion Fletcher and freshman quarterback Austin Davis who made the transition a smooth one as the Black squad rolled to a 31-14 win against the Gold team.
"To be honest, I am glad it's over," Fedora said. "Overall, we are pretty much injury free. And the fans had a good time."
On the field, the Black offense got things started with a quick but powerful scoring drive that ended with Fletcher cashing in from the one-yard line.
The drive, with Davis running the first-team offense, took 32 seconds and covered 65 yards in four plays. The big play came on first down when Davis faked a dive play to Fletcher, reversed field and ran to the Gold's 26-yard line.
The next play saw Davis hook up with Fletcher on an 18-yard pass to the 8-yard line.
Fletcher, who rushed for 107 yards on 13 carries and added 78 receiving yards on six receptions, then scored from the 1.
"I think it went well," Fletcher said. "We executed and it showed. We wanted to come out and show the fans the offense. I think we did that, considering we've only had 13 practices."
After a Fletcher fumble at the Black 28 on the next possession, the Gold team tied the game at 7-7 when Martevious Young connected on a 3-yard scoring pass to former Gautier standout Jonathan Massey with 11:03 left in the first quarter.
From that point on, the first half belonged to Davis and the offense.
Davis, a redshirt from Meridian, capped off a 48-yard drive with a 1-yard run with six minutes left in the first quarter.
Following a 35-yard field goal by John Sablich of Ocean Springs that gave the Black squad a 17-7 lead, Davis connected with Gerald Baptiste on a 48-yard scoring pass.
The scoring pass came in the two-minute offense as the Black squad moved 76 yards in 33 seconds to take a 24-7 lead at the half.
Davis finished the game completing 17-of-23 passes and one interception for 207 yards.
In comparison, Young, while playing the majority of the time with the Gold team, completed 20-of-29 passes for 193 yards and three interceptions.
"It went pretty well," Davis said. "It's tough to judge (the performance) until we look at the film. The more we learn, the better we will get."
In all, the Black offense ran 45 plays in the first half.
"That's not a lot in the style of offense," Fedora said. "We will be in the high 70s or 80s (number of plays). We want as many opportunities as possible. That gives us a better chance to score."
