Meaningful Scrimmage for Trojans’ Papadakis

Petros Papadakis took the handoff, bulled his way forward for all of one yard and crossed the goal line.

Then the USC running back did something that may have appeared a bit strange, considering that his touchdown Saturday was during the Trojans’ first scrimmage of training camp at UC Irvine. He leaped into his teammates’ arms as if he had just scored the winning points in a regular game.

Papadakis’ exuberance was understandable, though. After all, it was the first time he had carried the ball in a somewhat meaningful situation since breaking his right foot on this very same field last August and missing all of the 1999 season.

“It’s been some time,” Papadakis said. “I was just sitting in a hospital room for the better part of this year, and it was very rough for me. Just to be out here with the guys and being able to do it again, it’s really a dream come true. I didn’t want that [injury] to be the end of my career. I didn’t want to remember it like that.”

Papadakis’ touchdown was one of the highlights of the 109-play scrimmage, which also featured standout performances from kicker David Newbury and punter Mike MacGillivray.

Newbury, who converted four of five field-goal attempts, including a 47-yarder, “took a step ahead” of competitors David Bell and John Wall, Hackett said. And MacGillivray was outstanding, averaging 53 yards a punt.

Papadakis scored on both of his carries in short-yardage situations near the goal-line. His other touchdown came on a three-yard run, and he finished with seven carries for 40 yards.

“You can’t measure his value,” USC Coach Paul Hackett said. “We know what he can do in the goal-line situations, and then he popped one [on a 32-yard gain] otherwise. He’s an inspiration.”

Sultan McCullough rushed the ball 12 times for 85 yards, and Malaefou MacKenzie had seven carries for 35 yards.

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A number of freshmen excelled, including safety Matt Grootegoed, who made seven tackles, caused a fumble and got up close and personal with several running backs on punishing hits.

“[Grootegoed] is a very extraordinary student of the game [and possesses] some very unusual natural physical skills,” Hackett said. “This guy is a very serious, very hard-nosed, very focused football player--far beyond his years, in my opinion. His ability to absorb our defense as much as he’s absorbed it after one week is just unbelievable. He’s going to be a wonderful addition.”

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Hackett held nine players out of the scrimmage as a precaution: defensive tackles Ennis Davis (knee), Ryan Nielsen (shoulder) and Shamsud-Din Abdul-Shaheed (shoulder, hamstring), linebacker Markus Steele (hamstring), safety Troy Polamalu (slight concussion), tight end Antoine Harris (hamstring), offensive guard Trevor Roberts (foot), and receivers Kareem Kelly (knee) and Steve Stevenson (hamstring). Hackett said he expects all of the players to return to practice Monday except for Roberts, who will sit out all of next week.