Second Annual Crawfish Bowl set for Tuesday
BEAUMONT – Lamar University will cap off its spring football practices Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. when the Cardinals play the Second Annual Crawfish Bowl at Provost Umphrey Stadium.
The red-white game will feature four 10-minute quarters and will be open to the public with free admission. The two teams were decided last Thursday by draft with center Kyle Gillam being selected first overall for the second straight year.
Last year’s game went to the red team by a 21-17 score as quarterback Andre Bevil scrambled for a 17-yard touchdown with just 34 seconds to play in what proved to be the game winner. With Bevil gone, quarterbacks Jeremy Johnson, Caleb Berry and Ryan Mossakowski will be competing for the starting spot under center.
Lamar has had a very productive spring season according to head coach Ray Woodard with the addition of several new players, new coaches and new schemes. All will be on display Tuesday night as the Cardinals wrap up their third spring season since returning to the gridiron in 2010.
“I think we’ve had a very successful spring,” said Woodard. “I think we’ve accomplished what we set out to do. We’ve installed a lot of new schemes both offensively and defensively and our players have picked them up very well. I think you’ll see that in the spring game.
“We’ve got a lot of players competing and we’re not holding back a whole lot. You’ll see on offense and defense what we’ve put it in because we’re not going to hold back. If we can improve as much in fall practices as we did this spring, I think we’re at a point where it will really pay off.”
The two teams will be coached by graduate assistants Marcus Carver and Brett Ramsey with legendary high school coaches Dan Hooks (West Orange-Stark) and Charlie Woodard (Silsbee) serving as honorary coaches. Ramsey, who made Gillam the top pick for the white team, will have Hooks on his sideline, while Woodard (Ray Woodard's first cousin) will be on Carver's staff.
Lamar will open its 2012 football schedule on Sept. 1 with a road game at former conference rival Louisiana-Lafayette, now a member of the Sun Belt Conference. Woodard's Cardinals will face a second Football Bowl Subdivision school when they travel to Honolulu, Hawai’i, to play a Sept. 15 game against the University of Hawaii.
The Cardinals' home opener in 16,000-seat Provost Umphrey Stadium is set for Sept. 8 against Prairie View A&M University. Their Southland Conference opener will be in Beaumont against Southeastern Louisiana University on Sept. 29, and their 2012 Homecoming Game will be against McMurry University on Oct. 13.
For season ticket information, call the Lamar ticket office at (409) 880-1715.