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April 20, 2002

CARMEL, Ind. - Berin Lacevic hasn't played a regular-season game at Purdue, yet he already is a fan favorite.

The junior college transfer made two field goals - from 41 and 40 yards - to help lead the Gold Team to a 27-14 victory over the Black Team during the Purdue Spring Game on Saturday at Carmel High School.

An estimated crowd of 5,000 roared with approval for Lacevic, who is looking to fill the shoes of All-American Travis Dorsch. Lacevic also missed from 58 yards (short) and 40 yards (wide left).

"I felt like it was definitely an above-average day," Lacevic said. "I really felt like I should have made that (almost) 60-yarder. It sounds impossible, but I was hitting them easy during pregame warmups. Coming off today and showing my ability to put the ball through the uprights, I hope it makes the coaches feel better going into the fall. Hopefully, they have a lot more confidence in me. There are a couple of things that I still need to improve, but overall I feel pretty happy."

The Boilermakers' top two quarterbacks - Kyle Orton and Kyle Smith - both were impressive. Orton completed 18 of 24 passes for 202 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, while Smith was 20 of 38 for 242 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Smith also rushed for 73 yards on eight carries.

"I liked the way Orton threw the ball," head coach Joe Tiller said. "He was a little handicapped because he didn't have the No. 1 receivers. As far as Smith, in spite of the interceptions, I was pleased with the way he did some things with the ball. That's good because I think he's doing to develop into the type of quarterback we thought he was going to be, which is a program guy who after a couple years will be able to go in and play."

A 10-yard pass from Orton to Anthony Chambers and Lacevic's two field goals staked the Gold Team to a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter before Montrell Lowe put the Black Team on the scoreboard with a 6-yard run with 48 seconds left in the first half.

The Gold Team extended its lead to 20-7 on a 10-yard run by Joey Harris in the third quarter and put the game away with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Orton to Chris James with 8:39 to go in the game.

Smith and Jameson Evans connected on a 23-yard touchdown to finish the scoring.

Four players each caught five passes on the day: Mike Rhinehart for the Gold Team, Charles Davis, Evans and Taylor Stubblefield for the Black.

The Black Team held a 378-230 advantage in total offense but was hurt by seven turnovers (four interceptions and three fumbles).

One of the interceptions provided the funniest moment of the game. After the Gold Team's Antwan Harris intercepted a pass from Stubblefield (off a lateral from Smith) at the Black 39-yard line early in the fourth quarter, he took off running the wrong way, turning a sure touchdown into a return of no yards.

"I'm upset with myself because I should have had enough awareness to run the right way, but it's not a big game," Harris said. "We're just having fun. Playing the game of football, you have to keep a positive attitude. Guys that get down on themselves never move forward. You've got to keep high spirits and keep playing."

Brandon Jones paced the Gold Team with 39 yards rushing on 11 carries, while Harris had 17 yards on 10 rushes. For the Black Team, Jerod Void had 29 yards on seven carries and Lowe 26 yards on three rushes.

Tiller thought it was a good day all around.

"I liked the effort level, I liked the enthusiasm and I liked the idea that these guys were having fun," the sixth-year grid boss said. "It was a pretty good day, and we got some work done."

Spring Game Statistics

Rushing: Gold Jones 11-43, Harris 10-17 (1 TD), Farmer 1-(-5), Orton 7-(-23), Team 1-0. Black Smith 8-73, Void 7-29, Lowe 3-26 (1 TD), Stevenart 1-8.

Passing: Gold Orton 24-18-1 (2 TD), 202, Farmer 2-0-0, 0, Team 1-0-0. Black Smith 38-20-3 (1 TD), 242, Stubblefield 1-0-1, 0.

Receiving: Gold Rhinehart 5-33, Harris 3-53, Jones 3-41, Noel 3-17, James 2-44 (1 TD), Chambers 2-14 (1 TD). Black Stubblefield 5-51, Evans 5-48 (1 TD), Davis 5-48, Standeford 3-36, Lowe 1-52, Morales 1-7.

Tackle Leaders: Gold Edwards 10, Odom 7, Dickerson 4, L. Johnson 4, Koutouvides 4, Reeves 4. Black Hardwick 8, Leimberger 8, Schweigert 7, Phillips 5, Goldsberry 4.

Sacks: Gold none. Black Swann 3, Lawrence 1, Phillips 1.

Interceptions: Gold Dickerson 1, A. Harris 1, Huddleston 1, Ramirez 1. Black Rogers 1.

Punting: Gold Levin 4-153 (38.3). Black Stubblefield 1-39.

Kickoff Returns: Gold Reeves 1-20. Black Ferrell 1-23, Davis 1-16, Goldsberry 1-2.

Field Goals: Gold Lacevic 41, 40, missed 58, missed 40. Black Nelson missed 47, missed 27.