A full officiating crew was on hand for Kent State’s Kick Scrimmage Thursday morning at Dix Stadium.  Specialists and the remaining players were divided into two teams as a scoring system was put into place for field goals, punts and kickoffs.

Head Coach Darrell Hazell believes that the scrimmage is an effective way to place emphasis on field position and discipline on special teams.

On the game’s final play, the gold team’s fake field goal pass attempt skimmed off the fingers of a receiver, giving the blue team a 25-21 victory and a free pass to go directly to the locker room.  Meanwhile, gold team members were given garbage bags to clean Dix Stadium.

The difference-making play of the game came when a gold team field goal attempt was partially blocked and went beyond on the line of scrimmage.  Luke Wollet (Poland, Ohio) of the blue team, saw a potential wall of blockers developing and opted to pick the ball up and return it over 90 yards for a touchdown.  

Just three weeks after having surgery, kicker Freddy Cortez (Fort Meade, Fla.) made a 46-yard field with plenty of room to spare, giving the gold team an early lead.  Cortez also had a kickoff go out of the back of the endzone.

The blue sideline came alive in the first half when walk-on kicker April Goss (Clinton, Pa.) made a 26-yard field goal.  Another new walk-on, David Kalb, had a punt roll out-of-bounds at the one yard line.

Dri Archer (Laurel, Fla.) had the most impressive punt return of the morning, making four tacklers miss. 

Cortez heads into his senior year, ranking second in career field goals made at Kent State with 37.

Kent State's Spring Game is set for April 21.  Season tickets are on sale now.  Call 330-672-2244.