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Jan. 9, 2010

 

Kingsville, Texas - The West All-Stars put together a solid defensive effort in shutting out the East All-Stars, 16-0, at the 16th Valero Cactus Bowl, played Friday night at Javelina Stadium in Kingsville, Texas.

With temperatures near freezing at kickoff, the game appeared likely to be a defensive battle. As play began it became apparent that the defenses would rule the night.

Twice, the West drove inside East territory in the first half.

The first time the East defense stopped a fourth down and on the second drive West Chester’s Sam Scott forced a fumble that was recovered by Abilene Christian’s Tony Harp. Each time the West defense responded by quickly getting the ball back. They limited the East to just 15 first quarter yards.

Near the end of the first quarter, West quarterback Billy Garza, from Texas A&M-Kingsville, directed the offense into the Red Zone thanks to his own 12-yard run and a 26-yard pass play to Daniel Nichols. Facing a third-and-3 at the 10-yard line, Garza connected with Southeastern Oklahoma’s Jerome Hewitt for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.

Garza led the West on two more scoring drives in the second quarter. First, he led the team to the East 31-yard line before stalling out and settling for a Garrett Rolsma (Central Washington) 48-yard field goal, a new Valero Cactus Bowl record.

The East defense came up big as they forced the West to settle for a field goal on their next possession. Rolsma booted through the 34-yarder with 56 seconds left in the half.

With help from WT defensive end Eugene Sims, the West squad effort that limited the East to just 17 yards rushing on 16 carries and 23 yards passing in the first half.

In the second half, the East had the ball into West territory on five occasions, but was never able to get close enough to even try a field goal. The West added a third Rolsma field goal at the start of the fourth quarter, a 40-yard effort.

The West defense had a total of eight tackles for loss for a total of 44 yards. It was a team effort as no one player had more than seven tackles, but 10 players had at least four tackles. Washburn’s Zack Watkins led the team with seven tackles,WT's Sims finished the game with four tackles, including one takedown for lost yardage and a pass breakup, while Phillips had 1.5 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a pass break-up. The defensive secondary was particularly effective as they held the East to just 11-for-34 passing and 87 yards.

Overall, the East had a total of 121 total yards of offense.

The Jim Langer Offensive Lineman of the Game Award went to WT’s J'Marcus Webb, while Garza was named the Offensive Player of the Game after passing for 146 yards, completing 15-of-27 passes and one touchdown. Hewitt was the team’s leading receiver with five catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. Central Washington’s Johnny Spevak also had five catches for 37 yards. Edinboro’s Trevor Harris was 10-for-13 for 97 yards and one interception passing.

Northwest Missouri State’s LaRon Council led the West in rushing, with 55 yards on 10 carries. The West gained a total 137 yards on 33 carries. T

he East did not have many offensive highlights. Albany State’s Jarom Freeman led the team with 24 yards rushing on seven carries. Arkansas Tech’s Nick Graziano went 9-for-20 for 52 yards passing while Reggie Smith and Mike Harris each had three receptions.

The East defense was led by West Chester’s Sam Scott who was named the Defensive Player of the Game after tying a Cactus Bowl record with 14 tackles. He also had two forced fumbles and one tackle for loss. Scott’s West Chester teammate, Mike Dell, was the team’s second leading tackler with seven stops.