ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College football team saw its first action of 2021 with the first Orange-White intrasquad game Saturday afternoon at Macalester Stadium. The team was split into two squads, Team Braveheart (White) and Team Tartan (Orange). Team Braveheart held on to win, 7-6.

Junior Peter Vitalis (Shafer, Minn./Chisago Lakes) caught a touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Ryan Dodds (Arlington, Va./Washington-Lee) on Team Braveheart's first drive of the game. The score remained 7-0 until 20 seconds left in the scrimmage, when junior Kia Akimoto (Tamuning, Guam/Father Duenas Memorial School) scored on a 1-yard run for Team Tartan. Orange decided to go for two points, but junior Brady Thompson (New Brighton, Minn./De La Salle) broke up a pass intended for first year Nick Bice (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge), giving Team Braveheart the victory.

Defense dominated on both sides, with first year defensive lineman Xavier Pittman (Spring, Texas/Spring) being named the player of the game. Senior Cooper Tunac (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) also had an interception. The offensive and defensive lines played for both teams in the scrimmage.

Before the game, the team honored its eight seniors: Tunac, Carter Gale (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston), Steven Immel (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East), Sam Jakshtis (Hardwick, Mass./Worcester Academy), Jack Levin (Encino, Calif./Grover Cleveland), Steven Schimanski (Shorewood, Ill./Minooka), Connor Skutt (Omaha, Neb./Brownell-Talbot) and Kalvin Thomas (Barre, Mass./Quabbin Regional).   
 
The Scots will host Bethel in a scrimmage on Saturday, April 17 at 1:00 p.m. at Macalester Stadium. Click here to view Macalester's Outdoor Spectator Policy. The scrimmage will be webcast on Macalester Athletics' All-Access page.