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NFL: BROWNS: Defense keys 31-14 North victory

/noticias.info/ By Zac Jackson, Staff Writer
January 28, 2006

MOBILE, AL - Look what Daniel Bullocks found.

The Nebraska safety recovered two fumbles on punt returns, one for a touchdown and another that led to the final touchdown, and Bullocks' North team rolled to a 31-14 victory over the South in the Senior Bowl Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

North quarterbacks Charlie Whitehurst of Clemson and Jay Cutler of Vanderbilt each threw a touchdown pass, and the swarming North defense racked up five sacks and held the South to 179 yards of total offense.

Both South touchdowns came following special teams miscues that gave the South offense a short field. Penn State defensive end Tamba Hali had two sacks and was named the North's Defensive MVP.

"It was important to these guys to play well in this game," North coach Jeff Fisher of the Tennessee Titans said. "The defense came together, and we had some guys up front who can really rush the passer."

The North, a slight underdog and certainly not the team many of the 40,646 fans showed up to see, finished a week of fun and business with a dominating victory.

"The South guys got all the cheers, but we got the win" Bullocks said. "I tip my hat to the front seven on our defense and the offense. They played great today."

The biggest cheers were for South starting quarterback Brodie Croyle of Alabama, and they got louder when he opened the scoring with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Sinorice Moss at 6:36 of the first quarter.

The North answered with an efficient drive led by Whitehurst, who completed two passes to Michigan receiver Jason Avant and two to Colorado tight end Joe Klopfenstein, including a 15-yarder for a touchdown at 2:08. Klopfenstein left his feet and reached over the head of UTEP linebacker Thomas Howard for the touchdown catch.

Whitehurst was 5-for-5 on the scoring drive and 7-of-9 for 90 yards on the game.

"Winning certainly makes it a little sweeter," said Whitehurst, the North's Offensive MVP.

The North went up 14-7 on a gift touchdown five minutes into the second quarter. LSU's Skyler Green slipped while trying to field a punt inside his own 10-yard line, and the ball deflected off his leg and rolled into the endzone. Penn State cornerback Anwar Phillips was the first North player to dive on the ball, though the touchdown was credited to Bullocks, who ended up with it.

Bullocks' second fumble recovery set up the final score of the game, a 7-yard pass from Cutler to Arizona State's Derek Hagan.

"We had a great week down here," Bullocks said. "And I feel like I'm headed to the Combine and the draft with lots of momentum."

The North marched the ball down the field on the game's opening first drive, highlighted by a 35-yard pass from Cutler to USC tight end Dominique Byrd. But after a fourth-down quarterback sneak set the North up inside the red zone, Cutler forced a pass over the middle to Derek Hagan, and Texas cornerback Cedric Griffin made an acrobatic interception in the endzone.

"He made a heck of a play on that ball," Cutler said.

The South started with two big plays, a 27-yard reverse to Moss and a 16-yard run by Memphis' DeAngelo Williams. But the North defense tightened inside its own 40 and forced a punt, and that became a recurring theme.

"I'm happy to come down here and leave with an award," Hali said. "But that's a credit to the guys on my team as well. It says something about us to come down here and play like we did on defense."

The North went up 24-7 on a 1-yard run by Virginia Tech's Cedric Humes at 4:49 of the third quarter. A muffed punt by North return man Will Blackmon of Boston College led to the South's other score, a 17-yard pass from UAB's Darryl Hackney to Devin Aromashodu of Auburn early in the fourth quarter.

Hali and Oklahoma's Dusty Dvoracek had back-to-back sacks on Croyle in the fourth quarter to stop the South's last real scoring threat.

Williams showed why he's a likely first-round pick, rushing for 31 yards on three attempts and bringing the crowd to its feet with several nifty moves on a 28-yard screen pass in the fourth quarter. He was named the South Offensive MVP.

Byrd was big for the North, finishing with four catches for 67 yards. Another Penn State player, quarterback/receiver Michael Robinson, had several nice runs and finished with 63 rushing yards on nine attempts.

Moss was named the Game MVP; he finished with three catches for 46 yards. Georgia Tech linebacker Gerris Wilkinson had a sack and was named South Defensive MVP.

The North players celebrated their victory by dousing Fisher with ice water as the final seconds ticked away.

"I never expected an ice bath at an all-star game," Fisher said. "But it's been fun. It was worth it."

NOTES-North team captains were Iowa linebacker Chad Greenway and Robinson. Alabama linebacker DeMeco Ryans, Croyle and Miami tackle Eric Winston captained the South...Boston college tackle Jeremy Trueblood and Tennessee defensive end Jesse Mahelona were ejected for fighting in the third quarter...Current Browns who played in the Senior Bowl include Dennis Northcutt, Reuben Droughns, Gary Baxter, Nick Eason, Phil Dawson, L.J. Shelton, Andra Davis, Orpheus Roye, Aaron Shea, Daylon McCutcheon, Kirk Chambers and last year's Senior Bowl MVP, Charlie Frye. notas_de_prensa_archivo