Aug. 23, 2006

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Lafayette ran approximately 90 plays in its scrimmage Wednesday afternoon at the Metzgar Athletic Complex, giving head coach Frank Tavani an ample opportunity to look at all three units in live action before beginning preparations for the season opener at Sacred Heart on Saturday, Sept. 2.

"We covered all of our situations and got the necessary experience for a lot of guys who haven't been involved in this type of event before," Tavani said. "We obviously don't game plan for our own team so it's not a true indication of how things would go, but we had some good plays on both sides of the ball and certainly found some things to clean up."

"We'll go to a full scout team on Thursday and help the freshmen move in on Friday morning, and then we lose our freshmen for Saturday and Sunday while everybody else is out here working hard. Classes start Monday, we'll put in our three days of work and then get on 95 North on Friday to head up to Connecticut," Tavani said. "Things are starting to move pretty quickly."

With senior tailback Jonathan Hurt (two carries, 15 yards) playing only briefly to open the scrimmage, the Leopards shuttled several underclassmen through the tailback position. Sophomore Maurice White made the biggest impact, rushing five times for 53 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown run off left tackle to finish a drive in which he accounted for 46 of Lafayette's 55 yards on two rushes and a reception.

Junior Anthony D'Urso, junior Brandon Mitchell and sophomore Tim Watson also received significant work at tailback. D'Urso and Mitchell each scored on short-yardage plays, while Watson carried three times for 30 yards as the first-team offense faced a scout team defensive unit. Senior quarterback Brad Maurer ran for 28 yards to the two-yard line after a fake handoff to Watson from the shotgun, and Mitchell found the end zone on the next play.

"I've always said I like our depth in the backfield, and today Mo White ran over, around and through the defense, and ran hard," Tavani said.

Lafayette's junior class of wide receivers also impressed, as Kevin Logan (four catches, 68 yards), Duaeno Dorsey (70-yard touchdown catch) and James Dixon (30-yard touchdown catch) all had good afternoons. Dorsey turned a 10-yard pass from Robert Curley into a scoring play as he ducked a tackle at the first down marker and sprinted down the sideline. Dixon caught a short slant from Anthony Scriveri and went the rest of the way, carrying his final pursuer five yards until he found paydirt.

"We've been looking for depth at wide receiver, and today it just happened that each of the juniors stepped up," Tavani said. "Kevin Logan has had a great camp and we've been impressed with what we've seen out of Kyle Roeder also."

Senior offensive tackle Mike Saint Germain, a preseason All-American, was held out of the scrimmage but will return to practice on Thursday, according to Tavani. The head coach said he wanted to put the offensive line under fire, especially on third downs, to gain some necessary experience heading into the season. Saint Germain and senior center Ryan Nase are the only two returning letterwinners on the offensive line.

The defense came up with two turnovers, one on a forced fumble by sophomore linebacker Andy Romans which was recovered by senior safety Bryan Kazimierowski, and the other on a fumble recovery sophomore linebacker Chris Bacon. The first-team defense was effective early, yielding only one first down by the first-team offense in three series.

"We played our starting defensive line early and then got them out of there to see some of the younger guys," Tavani said. "We stuck with the linebackers and defensive backs a little longer, and then in the second half rotated in a number of players to see what we have back there."

NOTES: The Lafayette seniors and coaching staff participated in media day in the morning, with reporters from The Express-Times, The Morning Call, WEEX-AM (ESPN Radio 1230/1320), WFMZ-TV, Service Electric and WEST-AM 1400, the Leopards' flagship station, in attendance . . Jim Finnen, who is entering his 42nd season behind the mic at Fisher Field, was also on hand for the festivities . . Tavani saved his biggest ribbing for Gary Laubach of the Lafayette Sports Network, which returns for its 10th season on the television air waves and will broadcast every regular season football game for the fourth straight year on RCN-4 and WBPH-60.