Bulldog fans switched their atten­tion from the ice to the turf and got their first glimpse of new head foot­ball coach Tony Annese’s team.

The Ferris State University foot­ball team held its annual “Crimson & Gold” Spring Game Saturday after­noon at FSU’s Top Taggart Field.

“The team was def­i­nitely excited to get on the field, run around and hit each other,” senior defen­sive end Jordan Morgan said.

In the clos­ing sec­onds of the con­test, the White team con­verted on a crit­i­cal third down play to pull out a 68–64 vic­tory over the Crimson team. The Crimson and Gold Spring Game was the cul­mi­na­tion of FSU’s offi­cial spring prac­tice sea­son. The sea­son started March 23 and will include 15 work­outs per NCAA reg­u­la­tions. Spring drills will con­clude this week.

“It’s about putting it all together now,” Morgan said. “Playing in a game sit­u­a­tion makes us con­fi­dent for next year.”

While the game was played under pri­mar­ily nor­mal oper­at­ing rules, sev­eral mod­i­fi­ca­tions were made to the scor­ing sys­tem. Additional points were awarded to the offense for first downs and to the defense for three-and-outs as well as turnovers. Each team had a sep­a­rate coach­ing staff. Volunteer Assistant Coach Bart Estola led the White team to vic­tory while Volunteer Assistant Coach Jack Schugars was at the helm for the Crimson team.

Redshirt fresh­man quar­ter­back Jason Vander Laan got the Crimson team on the board first when he ram­bled into the end­zone from seven-yards out less than five min­utes into the game. Senior tail­back Dwayne Williams answered for the White team when he found the end­zone from four-yards out near the start of the sec­ond quar­ter. The touch­down gave the White team a 30–19 lead

Following sopho­more run­ning back Jamaal Jackson’s 22-yard scor­ing run, the White team held a 50–23 half­time edge.

Junior kicker Austin Kantola pro­vided the PAT near the end of the sec­ond quar­ter. However, early in the third quar­ter, Vander Laan and the Crimson team used four con­sec­u­tive fourth downs and an eight-yard touch­down pass to cut into the White team’s lead.

In the final min­utes, the Crimson team defense held the White team on the first two downs to set up a big third-down play. With time run­ning out, sopho­more quar­ter­back Taylor Masiewicz con­nected with junior wide receiver Nick Piggee to clinch the win for the White team.

With the spring sea­son almost com­plete, the Bulldogs are one step closer to the 2012 sea­son where they hope to improve upon their 6–5 over­all record in 2011. FSU is ten­ta­tively sched­uled to face Lake Erie College Sept. 8 for the first game of the year. The Bulldogs’ home opener will take place the fol­low­ing week­end against Ashland University Sept. 15.

“We def­i­nitely want to make the play­offs this year,” Morgan said. “With the new coach­ing staff com­ing in, the mind­set is not just to have a win­ning sea­son, but to make the play­offs. We want to turn things around.”