COLUMBIA, Mo. – The 2017 spring camp concluded under high clouds and a beautiful day at Memorial Stadium, as the Gold (offense) beat the Black (defense), 24-0, in the annual Black & Gold Game.
Junior WR Emanuel Hall (Franklin, Tenn.) hauled in a pair of touchdown receptions, one each from sophomore QB Jack Lowary (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and freshman QB Micah Wilson (Tulsa, Okla.), and finished with a game-high 87 yards on three catches.
Mizzou’s first string offense was electric on its opening drive, going 75 yards on seven plays, capped by a Dawson Downing (Mission, Kan.) two-yard TD run. Downing had 38 yards rushing on three carries on the opening drive, and finished with 47 yards on nine rushes. Sophomore WR Johnathon Johnson (Memphis, Tenn.) also hauled in a beautiful slant pattern catch on a perfect throw from junior QB Drew Lock (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) for a big 25-yard gain on the play.
On the second possession, Mizzou’s defense appeared to have the offense stalled near midfield, but on third-and-seven, Lowary eluded a blitz and stepped up in the pocket to deliver a perfect deep ball to Hall for a 42-yard TD strike.
The first-string offense and first-string defense again squared off on the third drive and junior college transfer DT Rashad Brandon (Jersey City, N.J.) blew up a pair of running plays, forcing a third-and-long that the offense did not convert. Freshman early-enrollee Isaiah Miller (Baldwin, Fla.) showed off some nifty moves on the drive for the offense, breaking off an 18-yard run, but the first-string defense held.
That kick-started the defense, which forced punts on four consecutive offensive drives. On those four punts, junior P Corey Fatony (Franklin, Tenn.) averaged 51.0 yards per kick, topped by a 56-yarder. Sophomore K Tucker McCann (O’Fallon, Ill.) ended Mizzou’s scoring drought with a 47-yard field goal with 6:19 remaining in the second quarter.
Hall hauled in his second TD grab of the opening frame to close the half, this time a 38-yards strike from Lowary as the offense scored 24 points in the first half. Mizzou’s offense hung 316 yards of total offense in the first half (204 passing, 112 rushing). Hall led the way 87 yards receiving while Downing led all players with 55 yards on the ground. Sophomore S Ronnell Perkins (St. Louis, Mo.) led Mizzou with five tackles in the first half, including a sack. The defense tallied three sacks and five tackles for loss as well.
The defense was sensational in the third quarter, holding the offense off the board and out of opposing territory until late in the quarter. Junior LB Grant Jones (Columbia, Mo.) snagged the Black team’s first turnover with a fourth-quarter interception, then Perkins followed with a pick on the ensuing drive.
