MONTOGMERY—Rodney Cross' two-yard touchdown run in overtime gave the Black team an exciting 14-7 win over the Gold team in Alabama State University's Annual Black and Gold Game.
 
“This was a good atmosphere and this is what we wanted to be a part of,” head coach Reggie Barlow said.  “We had a lot of people coming out and supporting us and supporting the guys.  They have worked really hard this spring and we are proud of them for that.”
 
Both offenses moved the ball well between the 20's but turnovers and penalty's hurt both team's scoring chances.
 
The White team's defense actually started the scoring on the second play from scrimmage when Darius Knox scooped up a fumble and went 45 yards for the score to give the White team a quick 7-0 lead.
 
It did not take the Black team long to respond as they marched right back down the field and completed the eight play, 70 yard drive with Cross' first touchdown of the game from 10 yards out.
 
After that score both defenses stepped up and did not allow any other scores until the overtime run from Cross.
 
Daniel Duhart led the Black team after starting quarterback Greg Jenkins only played the first few plays of the scrimmage.  Duhart finished the game completing 15 of his 29 passes for 118 yards and an interception.
 
His interception was a costly one as the Black team was threatening to score with a minute left in regulation when Deandre Rashada picked off Duhart's pass on the two yard line to send the game into overtime.
 
Demetric Price went the distance for the White team completing 11 of his 21 attempts for 178 yards.  He also had two costly interceptions.
 
His first interception came with the White team driving for the go-ahead score late in the first quarter when Winton Steward was able to tip his pass on the goal line and Jakari Wilcoxson grabbed the tipped pass for an interception.
 
His second interception came in the overtime period when Marcus Solomon picked off his pass at the goal line to help preserve the victory for the Black team.
 
“We did not know how long the weather would hold out and we wanted to be able to get some grades on Daniel Duhart,” Barlow said.  “We took Jenkins out after about four plays and the weather held off, but we know what Greg can do.  This game we wanted to see how Duhart and Price could manage game-type situations.”
 
“We know what Greg is and what he means to our team and it is important that he be a part, but we have to have a solid back up.  We saw in the three games we lost last year were the three he did not play so again it is important to have a good back up.  There were some things to learn for these guys.  They had the opportunity to sustain some drives, they made a couple of bad decisions but we will go back and watch it and put a grade on it.”
 
Cross finished as the game's leading rusher with 36 yards on seven attempts while Quendarious McKibben had 35 yards on 16 attempts.
 
“This was an opportunity to see these guys compete and Rodney Cross ran the ball hard,” Barlow said.  “He has been doing it all from the beginning of the spring until now.”
 
Jimmy Daniels and DreQuay Everett led the Black team's defense.  Daniels finished with six tackles and two sacks, while Everett had five stops and also recorded two sacks.  Steward finished with four stops and a pass break up.
 
Knox finished with three stops and the fumble recovery for the White team's lone score while Carlton Jones, Darchele Farley and Andrew Tate finished with three stops each.
 
Landon Jones led the receiving corps with 128 yards on five catches and Nehemiah Henry had six receptions for 53 yards.
 
“All in all there were some positives, but we have a long way to go,” Barlow added.  “But we are proud of what we have seen this spring.”
 
Following the game, the coaching staff handed out their spring awards starting with the Most Improved Players on offense and defense.  Marcus Gamble received the Most Improved Offensive Player while Will Roller received the award on defense.
 
Offensive lineman Edmond Davis received the Offensive MVP award and Deandre Rashada received the Defensive MVP award.  Cary McKnight received the first-ever Rico Webb Award, named in honor of ASU signee Rico Webb who tragically died earlier this season.  The final award, the Joe “Peter Rabbit” Malone award went to Corey Schofield.