Byron Johnson (Germantown, Md./Northwest) rushed for a game-high 104 yards on seven carries to lead the Red team to a 14-12 victory over the White team in the 2016 Saint Francis Spring Game, held Friday night at DeGol Field.

Before Johnson got into the act, Red took the lead on its first possession of the game. After holding White to a punt, Andrew Koester (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) led Red on a 9-play, 83-yard drive. Koester successfully converted on 4th-and-1 from his 26 with a two-yard sneak. Two plays later, he found Junior Ajayi (Delran, N.J./Holy Cross) for 61 yards down to the White 9. On third down, Marcus Bagley (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) coasted into the end zone from three yards out to give Red a 7-0 lead after one quarter.

The teams traded punts in the second quarter. Red managed to hold its lead with strong defense. The unit got sacks from Zane Stewart (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) and Shawn McCord (Aberdeen, N.J. /Red Bank Catholic) and solid secondary play from Jalen Wells (Westerville, Ohio/Thomas Worthington). He had the coverage on three consecutive incompletions from quarterback Zack Drayer (Hershey, Pa./Hershey ) in the final moments of the first half.

White got into the defensive act early in the second half. Robert Miller (Coral Springs, Fla./Taravella) had a big hit on Johnson to force a fumble, but Johnson recovered to keep Red’s drive alive. The White defense forced a turnover on downs at its own 37, still looking to get on the board.

Wells deflected a pass on that ensuing drive, leading to an interception by Sean Orsini (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny). A penalty negated that play, though, and White continued its drive. That drive resulted in White’s first score of the game in the opening moments of the fourth quarter. Tyler Magaha (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) connected with Dennis James (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter’s Prep) for a 29-yard scoring strike to make it 7-6. The extra point was wide, however, to leave White behind by a point. Magaha threw for 126 yards.

Red had a quick answer, and it was Johnson with the big play. His 65-yard jaunt took the ball to the White 10. Quarterback Nick Marsillio found tight end Matt Valenzuela (Sterling, Va./Dominion ) from eight yards out with 10:29 to play in the fourth. With the PAT, Red had a 14-6 lead.

After the teams traded punts, White took possession with 2:41 to play and needing a touchdown and two-pointer to tie the score. Magaha wasted no time as he found Lewis for a 59-yard touchdown strike down the right sideline to make it 14-12 with 56 seconds to play. Lewis finished with 105 yards on five catches to lead all receivers.

It came down to the two-point conversion. Magaha took the shotgun snap and looked for the left corner. Dsaun Greenaway ran a fade route, but his momentum carried him out of bounds as he fell to the ground looking to make the catch.

The Red Flash returns to the gridiron in August for training camp before opening the season at Montana on Sept. 3. SFU opens the home schedule against Malone on Oct. 1 during Family Weekend.