Temple University Athletics
White Shuts Out Cherry, 10-0, in Spring Football Scrimmage
4.18.09 | Football
April 18, 2009
PHILADELPHIA-- Temple football concluded its 2009 spring season on Saturday afternoon as White shut out Cherry, 10-0, in the team's annual intra-squad scrimmage at the Edberg-Olson Complex before 4,000 fans.
Senior PK Jake Brownell nailed a 19-yard field goal with four seconds remaining before halftime to give White a 3-0 edge at intermission. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, sophomore QB Chester Stewart connected with junior TE Anthony Pekarski on a five-yard touchdown pass to give White the 10-0 shutout. Brownell added the extra point.
"The first defense on the White team played really well," head coach Al Golden said. "The Cherry offense had too many penalties-- turned the ball over and dropped too many passes to get anything going."
For the White, sophomore Ahkeem Smith was the leading rusher with 67 yards on 22 carries. Stewart finished with 197 yards on 14-of-29 passing with no interceptions, including a 30-yard completion to TE Matt Balasavage. In the air, junior WR Delano Green had eight catches for 102 yards. Defensively, junior LB Amara Kamara and senior LB John Haley had seven tackles each. Senior DB Dominique Harris grabbed two interceptions for 26 yards.
"I think when the lights came on, he did a good job," Golden said of Stewart. "He didn't have the first-team line in front of him, but I thought he did a good job of commanding the offense."
Overall, freshman WR Matt Brown led Cherry in rushing with 44 yards on two carries and in the air with 48 yards on five receptions. Junior QB Vaughn Charlton went 14-of-31 for 125 yards. Defensively, sophomore DB Kevin Kroboth recorded a game-high nine tackles, including six solos. Junior DT Dave Nwasike followed with six solo tackles.
Sophomore QB Mike Gerardi saw limited action for both teams. He went 2-of-6 for 13 yards, including a 16-yard pass to Green, for the winning White squad.
"We had good spring ball overall," Charlton said. "We're staying positive, and we'll get everything together. Chester did great. Chester's a good quarterback. Mike Gerardi's a good quarterback, too. I think both did real well today. It just shows how hard they worked this spring."
In the shortened game format, there were no punts or kickoffs.
"Hopefully the guys learned a lot from this," Golden said. "There's a lot of value in having a game situation scrimmage, because all of the situations come up."
At halftime, five players were recognized as the team's annual spring award winners. Junior DB Anthony Ferla earned the Mark Bresani Award for spirit and enthusiasm. Redshirt sophomore OL Jeremy Schonbrunner was awarded the Gavin White Local 215 Award, presented to the most improved non-scholarship player. Junior LB Amara Kamara was the most improved defensive player, while senior TE Steve Maneri earned most improved offensive player accolades. Redshirt junior LB Jordan Martin was awarded the inaugural most improved special teams player honor.
Temple opens the 2009 season with cross-town rival Villanova in the inaugural Mayor's Cup on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Temple football season tickets are on sale now for as low as $90, and can be purchased by calling the Temple Ticket Office at 215-204-8499. Fans are encouraged to visit www.OwlsTix.com for full season ticket pricing information. Individual game tickets go on sale Friday, May 1 via TicketMaster.
