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GREENSBORO -- Alonzo Lee made his reputation as a defensive coordinator long before N.C. A&T hired him as its head coach last year.

So it should come as no surprise the Aggies' first-team offense couldn't score a touchdown against the second-team defense at the Blue vs. Gold spring game Saturday afternoon at Aggie Stadium.

And the first-team defense? It shut out the second-team offense, thanks to Marquis Sutton's interception in the end zone with 35 seconds left.

Patrick Courtney kicked 32- and 37-yard field goals to lead the first-team Blue to a 6-0 victory over the Gold in an intrasquad scrimmage that featured more tackles for losses (15) than completed passes (11).

Scrimmage or not, a lot of those tackles were of the pad-popping variety.

"We're going to fight defensively. That's my bread and butter," Lee said. "I don't believe in tacklers; I believe in hitters. If you're banging that (running) back, by the fourth quarter he's starting to tip. If you're just tackling him, he's still going to be running his butt off in the fourth quarter."

Hits on quarterbacks were off limits, and the defenses combined for eight two-hand touch sacks.

But otherwise, hard hits and well-timed contact led to four fumbles and at least four dropped passes.

Middle linebacker Brandon Jackson, who will be a senior in the fall, led the Blue defense with four tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.

"I don't think the defense is really that far ahead of the offense," Jackson said. "I think it's just momentum. Both defenses played with a lot of passion today."

The scrimmage officially ended spring practice, and Jackson said the Aggies were itching to play.

"Spring is so tough," he said. "... You grind all week in practice, and on Saturday you don't do nothing but come out and practice again. But it's something that's going to help us get better, so we go do it."

Ben Binder, a sophomore linebacker buried on the depth chart last season, made a game-high six tackles for the Gold team. Five of his tackles were for losses, including four sacks of starter Lewis Kindle.

Kindle, who started the Aggies' final two games last season as a true freshman, completed 6-of-12 passes for 111 yards for the Blue -- which played without nicked-up tailback Mike Mayhew and receivers Wallace Miles and Derek Gould.

"The Gold team played with more emotion than the Blue team," Lee said. "I warned them, 'These guys want your job.' They're not going to be tip-toeing through the tulips."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

N.C. A&T Blue vs. Gold spring football game

Gold (second team) 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Blue (first team) 3 0 0 3 -- 6

Blue -- FG Patrick Courtney 32

Blue -- FG Courtney 37

Individual statistics

Rushing -- Gold, Dominique Drake 4-34, Terrence Webb 7-15, Lamont Williams 3-8, Tevin McNair 5-8, Brandon Smith 2-1, Shelton Morgan 1-(-4). Blue, Dontavious Payne 7-29, Larry Raper 3-26, Lewis Kindle 11-24.

Passing -- Gold, Shelton Morgan 5-7-1-38, Terrence Webb 0-4-0-0. Blue, Lewis Kindle 6-12-0-111.

Receiving -- Gold, Nick Green 2-6, Terrence Webb 1-31, Julian Alford 1-3, Dominique Drake 1-2. Blue, Buster Cooper 2-78, Larry Raper 1-12, Tony Coles 1-11, Donta Prince 1-5, Dontavious Payne 1-5.