As the inaugural Huskie Bowl was under way, the effects of drafting the teammates to play against each other was in full evidence.

The Huskies were drafted into two squads–Black and Cardinal–and were led through the game by assistant coaches Joe Tripodi, who coached Black, and Kevin Kane, who took over Cardinal.

Despite Cardinal having some of the bigger names from the team, like seniors Jordan Lynch and Jimmie Ward and junior wide receiver Tommylee Lewis, it was ultimately Black twho took the victory and the steak dinner prize, defeating Cardinal by the score of 31-7.

Black utilized a strong defensive presence to take control of the game, as it had four interceptions on the day, including two in the end zone by senior cornerback Sean Evans.

Head coach Rod Carey, who got to sit back and watch for most of the game, believes the offensive production may have been a product of routine and familiarity.

“Offense is about timing and chemistry,” Carey said. “You mix up those parts [and] sometimes it doesn’t always go the way you want it. That was a little disappointing, but I thought the defense played really good.”

Kane, who is a linebackers/special teams coach, believes his offense struggled to come together as a solid unit, but knows the game served its purpose and provided the entertainment point, as well.

“Offense is just kind of funny, listening to what they’re trying to do,” Kane said. “The O-Line they never really worked together as a unit, the running backs never really worked with the O-Line. That’s part of the deal; you have to get used to it. You still have to run your offense. I was a little disappointed, but it was fun nonetheless.”

Black intercepted freshman quarterback Matt Williams four times and Lynch once, and also provided the bigger plays on the offensive side, especially through the air.

Freshman quarterback Drew Hare was impressive once again in his time, completing 7-10 passes and no interceptions, the only one of four quarterbacks to not throw a pick in the game. Hare threw for 143 yards, but 120 came from redshirt sophomore receiver Juwan Brescacin, who has a knack for the big play.

Brescacin led the team last year in yards per catch, despite having limited targets compared to other receivers. Brescacin kept that theme in this game, as he caught only three passes but they were for 120 yards and a touchdown, including a long catch of 48. Brescacin believes with the departure of several of the leading receivers there is room for him to step in and get his minutes up.

“It was a great experience, you know?” Brescacin said. “They just told us to come out, have fun and make plays. There’s definitely room for people to compete for spots; the guys before us, they taught us a lot. We’re just trying to apply what they taught us and what our new coach has brought to us and just bring it all into one.”

In a game where each team received 10 possessions from its 25-yard line and then two each at the opposing team’s 25-yard line, Black made the most of their possessions. They scored on the fourth possession, taking a 7-0 lead. Cardinal responded on their sixth possession, tying it at 7-7. Black went on to score on the eighth, 10th, 11th and 12th to ultimately win 31-7.

Carey believes his assistants did their job running the teams and calling the shots, aside from a few efforts to convert on fourth down. He also believes a game like this helped some of his freshmen see more action, especially on the defensive sides.

“There were some questionable go-for-its on fourth down, but other than that they did a good job getting the teams ready,” Carey said. “That’s why you do it like this, you draft the teams. Guys like Charlie Miller out there, we got him playing one position, [but] it looked like he was playing four or five today. It’s great for him, really big positive for him that way.”

Despite the fact quarterbacks were sacked or tackled with a two-hand touch, a safety precaution, there were very few restrictions. The competition level was high and the game featured plenty of big hits you would secondarily see in a game. Redshirt junior running back Giorgio Bowers lowered his pads on a few defensive backs and even bowled over a few players. One of the biggest hits came on the first score of the game as junior fullback Rob Sterling caught a pass and was running into the end zone only to be greeted by redshirt freshman linebacker Cody Hazelett, who laid a big hit on the upperclassman but ultimately gave up the score.

Tripodi believes the competition really did come out as the teams squared off against one another, and that was exactly what the coaching staff was hoping to accomplish.

“The competition was great; that was fun to see,” Tripodi said. “When you do something like this with a draft and the Huskie Bowl-type atmosphere it really provides life in the spring practice. Being a player not too long ago, that last week of spring ball kind of gets ‘grind it out.’ Our guys, we were a house divided today. At the end we’re ultimately teammates, but I know they had a lot of fun today. They got after each other and it proved to be good competition.”