SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State football team will hold its final tune-up of the spring season on Saturday, Apr. 25, before its annual Green & Gold Game. This weekend's scrimmage will begin at 11 a.m. on the team's practice field. As always, the scrimmage is open to the public at no charge.
Saturday's scrimmage will be approximately one hour and will place the team in different offensive situations.
GREEN-GOLD INFO
The Hornets will close spring ball on Saturday, May, 2 with the Green & Gold Game at Hornet Stadium. The team will take the field at 10 a.m. with the first play scheduled for 11 a.m. Following the game, fans are invited to dine with the players and coaches in a barbaque that will be held in the parking lot near the Alumni Center.
DEFENSIVE UPDATE
Coming off a three-turnover performance in which they kept the offense out of the end zone, the defense will have its work cut out for themselves if they want to improve on that effort. Last weekend, the team intercepted a pass and recovered two fumbles to stop three offensive drives. Defensive coordinator Lou Baiz is hoping the progress continues on Saturday.
"Our goal is to continue to work on the fundamentals," Baiz said. "We are always hoping to tackle better and work on team chemistry."
With several new faces in the unit as well as some position changes from returners, Baiz has been pleased with the impact of the newcomers.
"Overall, the new players are fitting in," he said. "Jay Reddic, Jarred Pereira, Zach Schraeder and Matt Agaiava have all come in and made an impact. (Redshirt freshman) Jeff Johnson has also played well in the secondary and (returner) Carlo Trinchero has been solid at linebacker."
NUMBERS GAME
There are not too many times that your quarterbacks can complete 20-of-22 passes and not find the end zone but that is what happened last weekend for the Hornets. The trio of John Loeliger, Nick Anderson and Dominic Carmazzi tossed only two incompletions (one was an interception) during the game. The trio have split time during the weekday practices with returning starter Jason Smith and will again see all the action during the scrimmage.
DRAFT UPDATE
A few former Hornets could be killing some time on Saturday at the scrimmage. LInebackers Cyrus Mulitalo and Mike Brannon, kicker Juan Gamboa and receiver Tony Washington each worked out for NFL teams during the spring. While none are projected draft picks over the weekend, each are hoping to earn a free agent invite to training game during the summer. Receiver Fred Amey was the last Hornet to earn a tryout and played his way onto the San Francisco 49ers roster in 2005.
HEADING HOME
Richard Sanchez, the team's tight ends and special team's coach, will be participating in his final scrimmage for Sacramento State on Saturday. Sanchez was named the head coach at St. Augustine High School on April 22 and will return to his native San Diego. With the Hornets, Sanchez coached four players to all-Big Sky honors comprised of Gamboa, punter Mitch Lively, returner Andre Taylor and special team's selection Calvin Robinson.
HEADING HOME
