Blue Rolls Past Silver in Annual Tune Up
8/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 24, 2002
Quarterback Chance Harridge led an efficient Blue offense while defensive end Monty Coleman paced a dominant defense as the varsity rolled past the scout team, 86-0, Saturday in the annual Blue-Silver scrimmage in Falcon Stadium.
The Blue started its first three drives in Silver territory and scored on drives of 44, 47 and 22 yards. Fullback Dan Shaffer capped the first drive with a three-yard run, while Harridge added a one-yard run and a three-yard pass to tight end Adam Strecker. Harridge then scored on a two-point conversion to make the score 22-0.
Harridge later hooked up with Shaffer on a 37-yard touchdown pass and receiver Anthony Park on a 62-yard scoring toss to give the Blue a 36-0 lead. The touchdown pass capped a seven-play, 99-yard drive. Backup quarterback Bryan Blew then scored on a 23-yard touchdown and closed the first half with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for a 48-0 halftime lead. The kickoff came following a situational kickoff from the Silver.
The second half was much the same, as the Blue continued its dominance. Harridge added another touchdown run and a scoring toss to Darnell Stephens before giving way to backups. Joe Schieffer scored on a pair of touchdown runs and third-string quarterback Brad Baca added a touchdown run. Kicker Joey Ashcroft capped a very impressive preseason with a 44-yard field goal.
The Blue finished the game with 573 yards of total offense, including 347 rushing. The group averaged 10.6 yards per play. Defensively, the Blue held the Silver to 168 yards on 73 plays, which is an average of 2.3 yards per play.
Harridge finished the day hitting eight of 10 passes for 206 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. He also rushed for 15 yards. Schieffer rushed for a game-high 84 yards on five carries while freshman Matt Ward added 49 yards. Shaffer chipped in with 49 yards. Park was the top receiver with two catches for 108 yards.
Coleman led the defense with five total tackles, including two tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks. The Blue team managed five sacks on the day and seven other stops behind the line.
"We were able to work on a lot of game-type situations today that you can't get in practice," Air Force head coach Fisher DeBerry said. "The most impressive thing was when we took the ball on the one-yard line and drove 99 yards. I did not like that we turned the ball over twice. That's way too many and that will get you beat."
Air Force opens the regular season Saturday, Aug. 31, against Northwestern at 10 a.m. in Falcon Stadium. ABC Sports will broadcast the game on a split-national basis.
