HARRISONBURG, Va., April 5, 2008 – Freshman tailback Corwin Acker (Landover, Md./Blake) ran for two touchdowns and rising junior wide receiver Bosco Williams (Clifton Forge, Va./Alleghany) caught a scoring pass in a Saturday James Madison football scrimmage that was controlled for the most part by the defense.
Acker, who enrolled at JMU for the spring 2008 semester, had scoring runs of five yards and one yard, and Williams and rising sophomore quarterback Drew Dudzik (Clifton, Va./Centreville) combined on a 20-yard scoring pass for the scrimmage's other touchdown.
Dudzik and Williams connected for the scrimmage's first score at the end of an 11-play, 50-yard series. Dudzik had a 15-yard run and a 12-yard completion to rising sophomore wide receiver Marcus Turner (Berlin, N.J./Eastern) to help set up the touchdown.
Acker's scores came at the end of 25-yard series late during the scrimmage. His five-yarder capped a five-play drive during which the Dukes' second offense overcame a 10-yard holding penalty on the possession's first play. His one-yarder capped a five-play series during which rising senior quarterback Rodney Landers (Virginia Beach,Va./Tallwood) had an 11-yard completion to rising senior wide receiver Patrick Ward (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) and Acker had a 10-yard carry to the one.
"Our defensive front dominated the scrimmage," said 10th-year JMU coach Mickey Matthews. "They (JMU's quarterbacks) didn't have a lot of time to throw; it's tough to throw with someone in your face."
Matthews mentioned rising sophomore Quintrel Thomas (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch), rising junior Sam Daniels (Portsmouth, Va./Woodrow Wilson) and rising junior Arthur Moats (Portsmouth, Va./Churchland) among the defensive linemen playing particularly well. Thomas recovered a fumble and rising junior defensive lineman J.D. Skolnitsky (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) also had a pass deflection at the line of scrimmage.
Acker ran nine times for 29 yards overall and redshirt freshman tailback Jonathan Rose (Amherst, Va./Amherst) 10 times for 36 yards among the JMU running backs.
Dudzik completed 12 of 20 passes for 141 yards and Landers 11 of 20 for 131 yards (both including situational action).
Ten Dukes caught passes, including Ward with four receptions for 79 yards and Williams with four for 62 yards. Turner caught three passes for 33 yards and redshirt freshman wide receiver Kerby Long (Arlington, Va./Yorktown) three for 28 yards.
JMU continues spring drills through the next two weeks. The Dukes are scheduled to scrimmage again next Saturday (April 12) and hold their spring game April 19.
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