The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Green Defeats Gold 49-7 in 2017 Spring Game
4/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY | QUOTES
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In front of 7,822 fans on a beautiful day at Legion Field, Green defeated Gold 49-7 behind 595 yards of total offense Saturday afternoon at the Spring Game.
“It goes without saying what a great and emotional feeling it was to get off that bus and see the unbelievable crowd,” head coach Bill Clark said. “It was 11:00 a.m. on a Saturday in April, for our fans, alumni, recruits and former players to be out here it was really amazing. I thought we had a great crowd with good energy and it was good to get the band and cheerleaders back.”
Green complied 326 rushing yards and an additional 269 yards through the air. Leading the ground attack was Kalin Heath (13-79), newly minted running back Donnie Lee (9-68, 2 TD) and James Noble (7-62, 1 TD).
Quarterbacks A.J. Erdely (7-10-0, 108 yards, 1 TD) and Tyler Johnston (8-12-0, 161 yards, 1 TD) led the air attack, while their top receiving target was Collin Lisa (5-115, 1 TD).
Green defense was stout the entire day, holding Gold to just 93 yards of total offense. Fitzgerald Mofor and Tevin Crews tallied a team-high four tackles apiece, while Mofor also registered one sack.
Green rushed out to a 14-0 lead as Noble (two-yard rush) and Lee (25-yard rush) found the end zone early in the first quarter. Gold responded with a five-yard rushing touchdown from Carlos Stephens, but Green tacked on two more touchdowns before the quarter ended and led 28-7 after one.
Lee added his second touchdown of the game in the second quarter which was the only scoring of the stanza as Green led 35-7 at halftime.
Green connected on the game’s longest scoring play in the third quarter when Johnston found Lisa for a 58-yard strike, while Lucious Stanley added a 10-yard rushing score in the fourth quarter for the game’s final points as Green rolled to a 42-point victory.
It was a clean game as the two teams combined for just five penalties overall and neither team committed a turnover.
The next time UAB takes the field will be for the 2017 season opener against Alabama A&M on September 2 at Legion Field.
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