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North 24, South 21
MOBILE, Alabama (Ticker) -- Michigan
State's Paul Edinger kicked a 28-yard field goal with 5:15 left to break a
tie and lift the North to a 24-21 victory over the South in the Senior
Bowl.
The North team was coached by George
Seifert and the staff of the Carolina Panthers, while the South was headed
by Gunther Cunningham and his assistants from the Kansas City Chiefs.
The final scoring drive, a 13-play,
56-yard march that lasted 7:02, was engineered by Lousville quarterback
Chris Redman. On 4th-and-11 from the South 33, Redman found UCLA's Danny
Farmer for a 15-yard gain that kept the drive going.
Marshall's Chad Pennington was named the
game's Most Valuable Player. The North quarterback completed 11-of-14
passes for 92 yards with one touchdown.
"The biggest thing was I just wanted
to show what type of leader I was ... and the type of character I have off
the field, I think those are the two most important things that a
quarterback has to have," said Pennington, who led Marshall to a 13-0
record and a No. 10 final ranking. "Anytime you get a chance to play
with some great football players on national TV, you want to represent
your team in a good way."
Pennington and Redman are ranked by many
as the top two quarterback prospects for the April NFL draft. Redman was
12-of-20 for 134 yards and, like Pennington, was not intercepted.
Alabama's Shamari Buchanan grabbed a
36-yard scoring pass from Tennessee's Tee Martin midway through the third
quarter to give the South a 21-14 lead. But, after a failed 4th-and-2 at
the North 39, Michigan fullback Aaron Shea bulled in from two yards 27
seconds into the fourth to tie the score again and set the stage for
Edinger's winning kick.
Pennington hit Farmer with a four-yard
scoring pass 8:55 into the game to open the scoring. The 17-yard drive was
set up when Michigan State linebacker Julian Peterson intercepted Martin
and returned the ball 20 yards.
"They weren't allowed to bump, they
weren't allowed to be up in pressure," Farmer said of the defense.
"I think we were able to exploit that and catch them off guard."
Farmer had three catches for 30 yards,
while Penn State's Chafie Fields had a team-high five for 41. Redman's
Louisville teammate, tight end Ibn Green, caught four passes for 63 yards.
Buchanan led the South with 51 yards on
two catches after catching only 11 for 190 the entire season.
"I showed that I can catch the ball
fairly well and just in general play with the best of them," he said.
"Each team had to keep their (defensive) packages limited, so that is
one of the reasons why there was such a see-saw game."
Louisiana State's Rondell Mealey had a
four-yard touchdown run with 11:35 remaining in a 21-point second quarter
to tie it for the South.
Mealey, whose run finished a 13-play,
89-yard march that featured Louisiana Tech's Tim Rattay at the helm, had
15 yards on four carries while Arizona State's J.R. Redmond had 61 on 10
for the game.
"I think I showed the scouts I can
be an every-down back," Redmond said. "I think the biggest
misconception about me is that I'm just a third-down back and I can't
carry the ball 20 to 25 times a game."
Ohio State's Michael Wiley ran in from
six yards with 5:10 left to give the North back the lead, 14-7, but
Arizona State fullback Terrelle Smith scored on a one-yard plunge to tie
it four minutes later for the South on the ensuing possession.
The game's only turnovers were committed
by the South, with Martin getting intercepted twice in his hometown.
"It was real special for me to be on
the field," said Martin, who was 5-of-8 for 65 yards. "This is
where I started my high school career. This is the end of one career and
the beginning of another." |
