The Iowa State football team has been lacking in depth the past few years, but Saturday’s spring game showed a change from recent seasons.

The annual event pits the starting squad wearing cardinal against the second string players who sport the white uniforms.

This year’s game was different than others as the quarterback position is still undetermined.

Junior college transfer Derrick Walker was given the starting nod for the cardinal team, and junior Sage Rosenfels piloted the white team. Walker and the starting squad fumbled away their first opportunity of the game when Matt Hensler pounced on a missed exchanged from the center.

The white team was unable to advance the ball, but freshman place kicker Steffen Nass converted on a 49-yard field goal with the wind at his back. The field goal gave the white team a 20-0 lead because it is initially spotted 17 points.

The cardinal team responded on its next position with a 61-yard drive of its own that culminated in a Darren Davis touchdown from one yard out. J.J. Moses showed some flashes of brilliance on the drive by shaking off a defender and then juking his way for 22 yards to set up the Davis score.

However, the white team would answer with a drive of its own as Rosenfels marched his team 76 yards for a touchdown. Rosenfels rolled out to his right and connected with Reggie Moorer from 15 yards out to put the white team up, 27-7.

“I thought our reserves on the white team, especially Rosenfels, were really sharp to start the game.” head coach Dan McCarney said. “Rosenfels did a nice job of moving in the play action and throwing on the run.”

Neither team could put points on the board in the second quarter, and the white team held a 20-point lead going into the half.

The first half was reminiscent of last season as neither squad was able to establish a ground game, and both relied on the arms of their respective quarterbacks.

“Walker threw some really strong balls into a pretty good wind,” McCarney said. “I think the quarterback position is still up for grabs, and I liked the way both of them worked today.”

The second half began with Rosenfels and Walker switching teams, but it was obvious what the game plan was from the start. After the white squad went three and out on its first possession, the cardinal team hammered out yardage on the ground.

Davis took his first hand-off on the second half for 65 yards before being caught from behind by Adam Runk. Rosenfels hooked up with Mike Brantley for 20 yards to set up an eight-yard scamper by Davis for the touchdown.

The starting defense stymied white’s offense once again and forced them to punt. That’s when Ennis Haywood took over. The sophomore tailback opened the drive with a seven-yard gain before busting loose for a 73-yard run to paydirt.

“Haywood has improved his speed and quickness, and his burst is better than it was last fall,” McCarney said. “He will definitely be used in our offense because we don’t want him standing on the sideline very much.”

Haywood’s touchdown narrowed the gap to 27-20 in favor of the white team before cardinal’s defense came up big once again and forced another punt.

The ensuing drive ended in a 25-yard score by Davis for his third touchdown of the day to give cardinal a 28-27 lead. Davis cut back to the right off tackle and used some shifty footwork to elude Runk for some sweet revenge.

“I had to get him back because you can’t win every play,” Davis said. “He got me on one play, but I got him back on the next.”

Davis ended the day with 141 yards on 17 carries, but Haywood had a strong showing himself, tallying 149 yards on the ground on only nine attempts.

“Darren and I bring two different styles to the game, and whichever one is working is what we go with,” Haywood said. “Today, I was trying to go out there and contribute to the team and have some fun.”

The coaching staff agreed that a little competition in the backfield will benefit the team.

“Darren is playing like there is a guy behind him who wants his job. It brings out the best in both of the backs,” McCarney said.

Davis welcomes the challenge of Haywood and uses the competition as a motivational tool.

“Ennis is a very good back, and he is doing his job to become a starter. It helps me a lot because it makes me work even harder,” Davis said.

The white squad could not recover from cardinal’s furious ground attack and was prevented from scoring by Jake Hanson’s interception late in the fourth quarter. Place kicker Mike McKnight was perfect on three extra points, but his 53-yard attempt at the end of the game fell short to give cardinal a 28-27 victory.

Rosenfels ended the day with 153 yards on 9-of-14 passing while Walker completed seven of 15 attempts for 64 yards. Both quarterbacks impressed McCarney, and they are looking forward to battling it out for the starting nod.

“We try to help each other out, and [Walker] has improved tremendously over the four-week period,” Rosenfels said. “My goal is just to make this team the best it can be whether I’m playing or not.”

“It’s a tight competition, and I’m getting more comfortable with the offense,” Walker said. “I want to concentrate on my footwork and learn the offense the best that I can.”

Mike Banks gave a solid showing by snagging four balls for 52 yards.

Banks will vie for the tight end position with an ailing Andy Stensrud, whose younger cousin Josh Stensrud hauled in an eight-yard reception of his own.

Damien Groce picked up right where he left off last season by catching three passes while Kenyatta Burris and Brantley added two apiece.

Defensively, Dustin Avey led the cardinal squad with seven tackles, and Jesse Beckom and James Reed added five each with three of Reed’s tackles going for a loss.

The white team was spearheaded by Runk who ended up with 12 tackles as Curt Schroeder and versatile Atif Austin contributed seven of their own.

As always, McCarney is optimistic about this season and sees an increase in depth at the skill positions. He is also pleased with the captains who were selected this year.

“I want to start electing captains this time of the year from now on,” McCarney said. “I’m really happy with the leadership that the kids selected.”

Ryan Harklau and Beckom are the defensive captains while Chris Anthony and Ryan Gerke will join Davis as offensive captains.

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Cardinal 28, White 27

 
White 27 0 0 0 — 27
Cardinal 7 0 14 7 — 28
First Quarter
NOTE: The White team was given a 17-0 lead to start the game
White—FG Nass 43, 9:03
Cardinal—Davis 1 run (McKnight kick), 5:32
White—Moorer 15 pass from Rosenfels (Nass kick), :18
Second Quarter
No scoring
Third Quarter
Cardinal—Davis 8 run (McKnight kick), 9:25
Cardinal—Haywood 73 run (McKnight kick), 6:16
Fourth Quarter
Cardinal—Davis 25 run (Nass kick), 11:53
White Cardinal
First downs 9 19
Rushes-yards 30-60 37-322
Passing 100 128
Comp-Att-Int 6-18-1 11-19-0
Return Yards 92 52
Punts-Avg. 5-38.6 3-44
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 5-38 7-68
Time of Possession 24:24 23:36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—White, Heavans 15-22, Rosenfels 4-16, Walker 4-18, Burris 1-0, Austin 3-(minus 4), Dougherty 2-27, Peel 1-0. Cardinal, Davis 17-141, Walker 7-17, Moses 2-3, Haywood 9-149, Alexander 2-2.
PASSING—White, Rosenfels 5-8-0 89, Dougherty 1-7-1 11, Austin 0-1-0 0, Walker 0-2-0 0. Cardinal, Walker 7-13-0 64, Rosenfels 4-6-0 64.
RECEIVING—White, Heavans 1-20, Brown 1-12, Burris 2-42, Moorer 1-15, Lyftest 1-11. Cardinal, Stensrud 1-8, Anthony 1-15, Groce 3-25, Banks 4-52, Brantley 2-28.