Offense Shines as Team Cardinal Earns T-Day Win

Offense Shines as Team Cardinal Earns T-Day Win

4/10/2021 4:23:00 PM | Football

By: Troy Athletics Communications

Offense Shines as Team Cardinal Earns T-Day Win

TROY, Ala. - Team Cardinal walked away with locker room bragging rights following its 21-7 victory over Team White on T-Day. The quarterback room was all the talk during the spring and all three Trojan quarterbacks continued to make their case to lead head coach Chip Lindsey's high-octane offense as they each threw a touchdown pass on Saturday.

"The last three or four practices there hasn't been much separation between any of the quarterbacks," Lindsey said. "They all have ability and all three have played in college which we feel good about. The guy that takes care of the ball the best and affects the team the best will win the job. There's nothing better than competition."

Sophomore Gunnar Watson got the first snaps for Team Cardinal on Saturday following a 32-yard field goal that went wide left. Watson looked sharp on the opening drive marching Team Cardinal down field with ease before throwing an 38-yard strike to a heavily covered Tez Johnson who went up and grabbed the ball with one hand for only points of the first quarter.

It didn't take long for Team Cardinal to get the ball back following a big fourth down stop by Richard Jibunor who made a living in Team White's backfield all afternoon. Junior Jacob Free got the call under center on Team Cardinal's second possession. Free, just like Watson, had Team Cardinal knocking on the doorstep once again. He teamed up with fellow junior Luke Whittemore who ran a perfect post route over the middle and walked into the end zone untouched to give Team Cardinal the 14-0 advantage.

Freshman Kimani Vidal was nearly unstoppable for Team White in the first half as he did a little bit of everything on Saturday. Vidal did all of his work in the first half, rushing nine times for 42 yards while hauling in three receptions for 16 yards.

Nearing the end of the second quarter, Team White began to find some rhythm before a Jibunor tackle-for-loss and a Terence Dunlap 23-yard interception return wiped away all the momentum Team White had built as Team Cardinal went into the locker room with a 14-0 advantage.

Midway through the third quarter, Missouri transfer Taylor Powell led Team White on its best drive of the afternoon. Powell connected with Deshon Stoudemire for a team long strike of 35 yards to set up their eventual 15-yard connection for Team White's lone score of the day. Stoudemire, a sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga., ended the day with five receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown.

"Each of the quarterbacks threw a touchdown which was great, and I was really pleased with how well all three moved around and completed the ball," Lindsey said. "We didn't put the ball in jeopardy which was important."

Troy's final score of the day came from the seasoned vet, B.J. Smith who made some guys miss in the open field before taking it in from eight yards out.

"B.J. looked like the old B.J. Smith out there," Lindsey said. "He's been here a long time and worked hard to get back healthy. And then Kimani [Vidal] was his usual self. He's going to be a special player here for us. I was also really impressed with Jamontez Woods and his ability to fight for three or four yards when there wasn't much space. I was really pleased with the running backs."

For all the success Team Cardinal had on offense Saturday, it was all set up by the strong play of its defense. Team Cardinal's defense made Team White uncomfortable from the start as the tallied four sacks, two tackles-for-loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.

Notables
• Luis Medina was a force all afternoon for Team White in the defensive line. Medina led the way with a game-high two sacks
• Reggie Todd hauled in a 42-yard reception in the third quarter for the games longest play
• Joining Medina and Jibunor with sacks were Elgin Griffin, Antonio Showers, Shakel Brown and Dawson Foster
• Jaydon McDonald forced one fumble with Kenion Bender on the recovery

Quotable
Lindsey on T-Day
"It was great being back on the field in a game situation, and I know our players were excited about it. It was good to see our guys fly around and really compete. We've got good competition as whole which is what is different about this team. We have really good competition all the way around which makes everyone better. The key is to continue to push. We have to have a really good summer and get stronger and finish strong in the classroom."

Luis Medina on the defense
"We didn't come out on top, but I thought the defense did a lot of good things, and there's still room to get better at some things. I was just talking to coach [Brandon] Hall about how much more comfortable I am this spring than I was in the fall. When I first got here, I was a little shaky but now I fell 100 percent confident. We have a lot on the defense, and everybody is trying to fight for a starting spot which makes us better."

Gunnar Watson on the QBs
"All three quarterbacks did some good things out there today. I thought I did pretty well out there. I had a few things I'd like to take back but overall, we played fairly well. We didn't score a lot of points, but our defense is playing really well right now. Our front seven is going to be hard to handle.

Troy opens the 2021 season on Sept. 4 when it plays host to Southern University in the first of six home games in Veterans Memorial Stadium. Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking HERE, contacting the Troy Ticket Office online at TroyTrojans.com or by phone at 877-878-WINS as well as in person in the Tine Davis Fieldhouse.