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Maroon, White entertain record crowd

Nick Starkel filled the stat sheet. Kellen Mond won the game.

Kendrick Rogers' outstanding catch set up his game-winning score.
Kendrick Rogers' outstanding catch set up his game-winning score.

Kendrick Rogers' 4-yard touchdown catch from Mond with 39 seconds left in the game led the White team to a 30-24 win over the Maroon team before more than 48,000 at Texas A&M's spring game Saturday.

The game was the first opportunity for many of the Aggie faithful to see new coach Jimbo Fisher and his offense, and neither disappointed. Driven by their coach's tenacity, the team put together a game that was competitive the whole way through. The game also starred something unseen in Aggieland in many years: a tight end. New arrival and spring football MVP Jace Sternberger caught 8 passes for 147 yards and 2 TD as he was Starkel's favorite target for the Maroon team.

Sternberger started the scoring with 3:19 left in the first quarter, when he caught an 11-yard pass from Starkel to put the Maroon up 7-0. After a great first quarter, Starkel (26-42, 373 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) made a big mistake early in the second quarter. Attempting to hit Sternberger on an out route deep his own end, Starkel had cornerback Roney Elam step in front and pick off the pass and return it inside the 10. Mond then hit another tight end, Ryan Renwick, with a 4-yard pass to tie the score at 7.

"He made that crucial mistake, but he rebounded from that," Fisher said of Starkel. The redshirt sophomore drove his squad down for a field goal before halftime, but the White went in to the locker room with a 14-10 lead after Kwame Etwi ripped through the Maroon defense on a 55-yard run on 3rd and 2 with 9:45 to go in the half.

After Starkel dominated the first half, Mond (19-26, 180 yards, 3 TD) proved himself equal to the challenge after intermission. Showing more confidence in his arm and checking down less, he took the White team down the field on the strength of his passing arm, hitting Camron Buckley on a sparkling 26-yard deep in to make the score 21-10. At that point, Connor Blumrick got his shot to play and made it count, hitting backup RB John Clark for a 20-yard TD pass of his own to get the Maroon team back to within 24-17 with 14:49 to go in the game.

At that point, the backups were out and the 1s came back in for both teams.

Starkel had the first chance in the late going and came through, hitting Sternberger on a seam route for a 65-yard touchdown that tied the game up at 24, reinforcing that yes, Victoria, there is a tight end in this offense.

"With Jace being able to get vertical, to catch and block ... he's going to be a big weapon for us," Fisher said.

Not to be outdone, Mond led the White offense on an 8 play, 75 yard drive that was highlighted by an amazing one-handed 32-yard catch by Kendrick Rogers (8 catches, 90 yards, 1 TD). Mond rewarded Rogers one play later when he rolled to his left, found the tall sophomore short of the end zone and got the ball out to him quickly, letting Rogers do the rest as he barreled into the end zone.

Even though there were only 39 seconds left, the White's lead almost didn't hold up. Given a final shot, Starkel hustled the Maroon offense down to the White 24 before his final pass to a triple-covered Sternberger was knocked down in the end zone.

"I like my steak rare," senior defensive end of the White team told Starkel in the press room after the game.

Aggie fans have a few things that they should like about this spring game as well.

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