Blue-White Spring Game Set for Friday Night
4/15/2011 1:42:00 AM | Football
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Football finished up its final practice on the banks of "Beautiful Eagle Creek" on Thursday in preparation for the Friday, April 15th Blue-White Spring Game. The Blue-White Spring Game will be held at Paulson Stadium with a 7 p.m. start. Former Eagle All-Americans Steve Bussoletti (1998-91), Jayson Foster (2004-07) and Mark Williams (1996-99) will serve as honorary captains for the game.
Activities begin prior to kickoff with a tailgate party to support the Statesboro/Bulloch County team of Coach Monken and Bubba Hunt in the American Diabetes Association contest to Kiss a Pig. The tailgate begins at 4 p.m. Registration for the Little Eagles Football Skills Clinic begins at 4 p.m. for the clinic which starts at 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., the Blue-White Eagle Rally, featuring an introduction of the honorary captains, Georgia Southern's mascot GUS, the Eagle cheerleaders, the Traditions Council and a pre-game address by Coach Monken.
Fourteen practices, which included two scrimmages, have prepared the Eagles for the final scrimmage of the season.
"We aren't competing against someone else, but this is an opportunity for our guys to go out there and execute our schemes, without having a coach out there telling them what to do and where to line up," said Eagles Head Coach Jeff Monken. "If he gets misaligned, he is getting help from only his teammates. It's more of a game-type situation."
Friday's Blue-White Spring Game format will follow a normal game style, however both of the quarterbacks, Jaybo Shaw and Jerick McKinnon will be dressed in red jerseys signaling that they are not to be tackled. The other position players will be available for full contact. The Blue and White squads are split to have the number-one offense oppose the number-one defense with the number-two defense on the white team and No. 2 offense on the blue team. The rest of the team was divided between the two. Rosters will be posted on the GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com website Friday afternoon and will be available for free to fans at Paulson Stadium.
The Blue-White Spring Game will be broadcast locally on Eagle 107.3 FM and online at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision. The video stream of Friday's game is offered for free at the same Eagle Vision web address.
Score updates of the Blue-White Spring Game are available on twitter.com/GSScores.
BLUE-WHITE GAME EVENTS
Activities leading up to kickoff include a tailgate to support the Statesboro/Bulloch County team of Bubba Hunt and Coach Jeff Monken as they compete against other Coastal Empire teams to kiss a pig. Hunt and Monken have plans to win the "Kiss-a-Pig" fundraising contest for the American Diabetes Association. While Coach Monken is preparing the team for Friday night's game, Bubba will have his tailgate feast ready for hungry fans who are willing to donate to their team's total. The cookout starts at 4 p.m. in the parking lot of Erk Russell Athletic Park and ends just prior to kickoff. The menu consists of chicken, ribs, macaroni and cheese, special pork and beans and Patrick's world famous peach cobbler.
Little Eagles Football Skills Camp
The hour-long Little Eagles Football Skills camp begins at 5 p.m., but registration starts at 4 p.m. with free T-shirts courtesy of the University Store for the first 50 children to register. Boys and girls between the ages of 4-12 may participate in drills with Eagle coaches and players. Participants can run a 40-yard dash, learn to punt and kick a field goal, test their accuracy throwing a football and run a shuttle drill. Parents can register their children between 4-5 p.m.
Eagle Rally
An Eagle Rally, presented by Georgia Southern's Traditions Council, will take place in the Eagle Fun Zone area north of Bishop Field House from 6-6:30 p.m. The Georgia Southern cheerleaders and GUS will participate in the event. Honorary captains for the spring game will be introduced and Coach Monken will address the crowd. The Traditions Council will also present a check for the funds raised for the American Diabetes Association "Kiss-a-Pig" campaign for Coach Monken and Bubba Hunt as representatives of the Statesboro/Bulloch County area.
Promotions
All official Georgia Southern student organizations have the opportunity to win a football tailgate valued at $1,000 with the most number of attendees at Friday's Blue-White game. All registrations will take place on the student concourse of Paulson Stadium. To be considered for the tailgate prize, students must provide their information and designate their student group when they enter the game. The winner will be announced during the game.
One student can win textbooks for an entire semester, valued at up to $500, thanks to the University Store. The student has three chances to kick a 35-yard field goal in the "Kick for Cash" contest. In the Verizon Wireless Long Distance Challenge, five students compete in a punt, pass and kick competition for a chance to win a Motorola Droid X.
Harvey's Supermarket is providing a $100 gift card for the Supermarket Scramble. Five students will be selected to compete against each other where the winner is the first to pick up items and return to the finish line. In the Dash for Cash, five students will race in a 40-yard dash for $100. With the Pawn City Golden Opportunity, a student will compete for $500.
EFAA REVERSE RAFFLE & AUCTION
The fourth annual Eagle Football Assistance Association (EFAA) Reverse Raffle and Auction is scheduled for Saturday, April 16th, the night after the Blue-White Spring Game. The evening of great live entertainment, food and opportunity to spend time with the Georgia Southern Football coaching staff and former Eagle players also features the opportunity to win $10,000.
The social hour, ticket check-in and silent auction begins at 6 p.m. at the Gene Bishop Field House. Items for the silent auction include Georgia Southern game day experiences, memorabilia, a round of golf with former Eagle football legends and other packages.
Reverse Raffle tickets can be purchased from the Georgia Southern Athletic Foundation for $100 each and each ticket covers food, beverages for the ticket purchaser and a guest. Reverse Raffle ticket purchasers need not be present at the event to win the grand prize.
Created to assist former Eagles in need of financial help, the EFAA invites all former football players, coaches and athletics staff to support the association through annual membership and fundraising efforts. Proceeds from the Reverse Raffle event benefit perennial EFAA projects including the Erk Russell Memorial Scholarship, the Eagle Fund, the GSU Athletic Foundation and Georgia Southern Football.
For more information about the event or to purchase tickets for the Reverse Raffle, contact the Georgia Southern University Athletic Foundation at (912) 478-5520.
