Youngstown -- Kurt Hess threw two first-half touchdowns, and fellow quarterback Patrick Angle had 158 passing yards and a touchdown as the Red Team beat the White 28-14 in the 40th Annual Red-White Spring Game on Friday evening at Stambaugh Stadium.
The Red offense and White defense were comprised of first-string players, and the Red defense and White offense were the second-stringers. The first half featured standard timing rules, and the second half had a running clock.
Hess finished 11-for-19 for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, and the junior-to-be spent the second half on the sideline. Angle was 7-for-14 for 94 yards in the first half for the White team, and he was 4-for-8 for 61 yards and a touchdown in the second half for the Red.
Angle and White quarterback Dante Nania connected with wide receiver Andrew Williams nine times for 135 yards, which was a game high. Jelani Berassa led Red with 82 yards and was one of four players to catch a touchdown pass. Carson Sharbaugh and Kevin Watts added scores through the air for the Red team, and Nate Adams had a touchdown reception for the White.
Jordan Thompson rushed for a game-high 67 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, and Jamaine Cook had 64 yards on 12 carries for the Red. Torrian Pace headlined the White rushing attack with 51 yards and a score on 12 carries.
Travis Williams had 10 tackles, including seven in the first quarter, for the White defense.
Thompson scored the game's first points on a 17-yard touchdown rush on the initial drive. On the sixth play of the drive, Hess had a 27-yard completion to Berassa down to the 18 to get the Red into the red zone. Cook then rushed for a yard on first down, and Thompson followed it with a 17-yard scamper for the score. Cook had a 10-yard rush on third-and-three earlier in the drive and had 19 yards total in the first series.
Following three defensive stops, including two by the White, Hess connected with Sharbaugh - a tight end - two plays into the second quarter for a 17-yard touchdown. A pass interference penalty put the ball on the White 20, and Hess hit Sharbaugh on a roll out pass on third-and-seven for the score.
Angle helped the White team answer by spearheading a 10-play, 70-yard drive that made the score 14-7. The sophomore quarterback completed six straight passes on the drive, including another that went for 24 yards that was called back on a holding penalty. Angle hit Andrew Williams on a 15-yard strike on third-and-11 to put the White at the Red 5, and Pace carried it the rest of the way into the end zone.
Hess executed the two-minute drill to give Red a 14-point cushion before halftime. He found Berassa for 13 yards on the first play of the drive from the Red 34, and he connected with Kintrell Disher for 12 yards on third-and-five at the White 48. He then hit Berassa deep along the right side line for a 36-yard score with 52 seconds left.
Nania showed off his arm in the third quarter to get the White team within a score. He connected with Williams on a 43-yard pass, the longest play of the game, to put the ball on the Red 35. Following a 13-yard rush by Pace and a two-yard run by John Medina, Nania hit Adams in the end zone from 20 yards out to make the score 21-14.
With the running clock, Angle put the game out of reach on the Red team's first drive of the fourth quarter. He connected with tight end Will Shaw for a 25-yard gain on third-and-19 to get the ball down to the White 22, and he found Watts for a six-yard score on the 13th play of the drive.
Shaw and the other two tight ends combined for 114 yards and two touchdowns on six catches.
Jimmy May Jr. intercepted Angle in the second quarter for the game's lone turnover. The Red team fumbled twice but recovered each. Brandon Neal and Julius Childs both had pass breakups for the White defense.
The Penguins will have a light workout on Monday to finish up the spring practice season.
