CEDAR CITY, Utah, April 16 - Southern Utah's White Team defense came away with two interceptions, both of which were returned for touchdowns, and those two scores proved to be the difference as the White defeated the Red, 31-26, in the 25^th annual Red White Scrimmage Saturday.

After a relatively uneventful first three quarters, the two teams combined for 35 fourth quarter points, 32 of them in the final 3:49, and two of the touchdowns coming on interceptions.

Junior linebacker Blake Fenn scored the first defensive touchdown for the White with 3:30 to play, just 19 seconds after Lavell Ika had given the team an 18-12 lead with a one-yard run. On the first play from scrimmage after the Ika touchdown Fenn stepped in front of a Brad Sorensen pass over the middle and returned it 29 yards for a 24-12 advantage after the two-point conversion failed.

Sophomore defensive tackle Brad Meyer was the next White defender to get into the end zone, taking a Kenny Schmidt pass 32 yards for a 31-12 margin with just 2:15 to play.

"On the first one the D-line got a little pressure in his face and he threw it right to [Fenn]," Demario Warren, SUU's secondary coach said. "[Fenn] was just dropping in coverage, he did a good job reading the quarterback's eyes to score that first one. [Defensive line] Coach Hunt called a game on that second one and the defensive tackle just kinda lucked into a screen play, it went to Brad Meyer and Brad ran until he couldn't run anymore and got us six points. We only won by five so those two scores were bigger than I thought at the time."

"I thought that was great for those guys," Head Coach Ed Lamb noted. "Blake Fenn ended last season with a big defensive score at UC Davis off an interception and he's done that a couple of times in practice during the spring. We've been talking about it as coaches, he's kind of getting a knack for reading the quarterback's eyes and doing it within the scheme of our defense, so I was happy to see him get that, it certainly wasn't a fluke.

"Brad Meyer's interception was probably more of a mistake by the offense but then Brad really turned on the speed, he really looked good for an interior defensive lineman, so I'm really happy for him too," Lamb added.

Sorensen and Jared Ursua hooked up on a 63-yard touchdown pass on the Red's first play after Meyers score, however, and the Red was within 31-20 after Sorensen found Javon Bailey in the end zone on the PAT.

The Red then successfully pulled off an on-side kick when Myles Crawford Harris went high and pulled the ball in just as it crossed the 40 yard line. Sorensen then drove the team 60 yards in five plays, again hooking up with Ursua for the score, the time on a four-yard pass, to pull the Red within 31-26.

The Red failed in its attempt at both another two-point conversion and on-side kick, however, allowing the White to run out the clock and claim the victory.

"Hopefully [the Red comeback] is the result of the kind of character we have on our team and the way we work in practice and in the weight room, in the meeting rooms and all the other training that we do," Lamb said. "There are so few opportunities to actually go and compete with a score on the line. I think the tendency for guys on our team to roll over and quit is probably zero. I have great confidence that our guys will keep competing until the end no matter what the score."

The win gave SUU offensive coordinator Steve Clark, who was head coach of the White team, his fourth straight spring game win.

"I thought [White quarterback J.J. Mayer] did what he wanted to do, he managed the game well," Clark said. "He threw the interception first, he knows better than that, but after that he made some good checks, things people don't see, but he got our runs in the right spots, made some good throws, and then our running backs were just good. They were up and down the field, they were breaking arm tackles, they didn't fumble, they took care of the ball."

"For them I thought Henna [Brown] ran real well and then they had Brian Wilson coming out of the backfield being productive as  well. You also saw what can happen with Brad when he heats up. He really got it going in the second half, threw some very nice balls and in the last couple of minutes he was really exciting."

Sorensen, who also found Crawford-Harris in the end zone near the end of the first half, finished with three TDs and 240 yards on 17-of-26 passing.

Sorensen's counterpart, freshman QB J.J. Meyer, completed 10-of-20 passes for 147 yards but wasn't able to find the end zone, as White's other scores came on a 28 yard Deckar Alexander run and a 30-yard Brock Miller field goal.

Alexander finished with 89 rushing and 30 receiving yards to lead the White offense while Ursua won the all-purpose yardage battle as he had 86 receiving yards as well as 632 on kickoff returns and 20 on punt returns. Austin Minefee added 48 yards rushing and another 46 receiving, while Wilson had 24 rushing yards.

In addition to his interception for the score, Fenn co-led the White team with five tackles, all solo, with an 11-yard sack. Chad Hanson and Erron Vonner each had five tackles as well for the White, while Cody Larsen had two sacks.

Junior Drew Willard led the Red team with seven tackles, six solo, while Rickey Clark had four and broke up a game-high two passes. Tyler Osborne had one tackle-for-loss for the Red, which also got an interception early in the game from Dion Turner.

Lamb said he thought the day was a success, noting "I thought the nice crowd, the competitive score, the nice weather all played into it being a very competitive day, I thought it was mission accomplished in terms of creating an atmosphere."

-- SUU --