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| Courtesy NSU Spartans Athletics |
NORFOLK, Virginia – One of the benefits of spring football practice is the opportunity it provides backups who may not have seen considerable playing time in the fall to show coaches what they can do.
With inside linebackers Brent Singleton and Marcell Coke out of Saturday's scrimmage due to injury, that gave rising senior Mike Privott and rising sophomore Lamar Neal even more of a chance to show their stuff. The two led a strong defensive effort, highlighted by Neal's 57-yard interception return for touchdown at the Spartans' practice football field on Saturday morning.
The first-team NSU offense put together a nice drive to start the scrimmage, with soon-to-be sophomore Brendon Riddick ripping off two runs of 20+ yards during the first possession of the scrimmage. But a dropped pass on third down stalled the drive. On the following possession, rising senior defensive lineman Josh El ended the possession with a third-down sack of Zach Deutel.
The defense again held on the scrimmage's third drive, before Neal unexpectedly scored on the fourth possession. With the first-team defense matched up against the second-team offense, Neal picked off a Deutel pass over the middle, raced up the left sideline, eluded a would-be tackler and scored on a 57-yard return.
That got the defense even more fired up. Privott, poised to be one of the emotional leaders of the unit, had tackles for loss on two of the next three possessions to put the offense behind schedule. Along with his two TFL, Privott also had several other tackles for little or no gain.
“Both (Neal and Privott) have done a good job this spring,” NSU head coach Pete Adrian said. “They both have taken advantage of the additional reps they've gotten and have worked hard this spring.”
El (2.5) and outside linebacker Eugene Bazemore (1.5) also had solid scrimmages for the second unit, combined for four of the defense's five sacks. El also forced a fumble on one of his sacks, which safety Andre Bean recovered for another turnover.
The Spartans' offense bounced back nicely during the second half of the scrimmage, however. A 24-yard run by Riddick helped lead to the offense's first touchdown of the day, an 8-yard TD pass from Nico Flores to DeAndre Sangster as the first units matched up against each other.
The second units faced off on the final possession of the scrimmage, which proved to be an entertaining one. Walk-on quarterback Omari Timmons completed passes of 13 yards to wideout Wilonte' Roscoe and 12 yards to tight end James Lynch to move the offense into the red zone. A 9-yard carry by Dallas Simmons followed by an offsides penalty gave the offense a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. Two runs by Simmons were turned back short of the goal line by the middle of the NSU defense, prompting Riddick to get the call on 3rd-and-goal. Riddick plunged in from the 1 to give the offense its second and final score of the day.
Adrian was pleased with what he saw from his team Saturday.
“Considering the number of offensive linemen and some others we held out with injury, I thought both sides of the ball competed well today,” Adrian said.
Riddick led the offense with nine carries for 75 yards and a touchdown. Dre'Quez Lambert rushed four times for 34 yards.
The Spartans have two dates left in their spring practice, a regular practice at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and their final scrimmage at 7 p.m. Friday. The scrimmage will be played under the lights at Dick Price Stadium, and will be free of charge and open to the public.
With inside linebackers Brent Singleton and Marcell Coke out of Saturday's scrimmage due to injury, that gave rising senior Mike Privott and rising sophomore Lamar Neal even more of a chance to show their stuff. The two led a strong defensive effort, highlighted by Neal's 57-yard interception return for touchdown at the Spartans' practice football field on Saturday morning.
The first-team NSU offense put together a nice drive to start the scrimmage, with soon-to-be sophomore Brendon Riddick ripping off two runs of 20+ yards during the first possession of the scrimmage. But a dropped pass on third down stalled the drive. On the following possession, rising senior defensive lineman Josh El ended the possession with a third-down sack of Zach Deutel.
The defense again held on the scrimmage's third drive, before Neal unexpectedly scored on the fourth possession. With the first-team defense matched up against the second-team offense, Neal picked off a Deutel pass over the middle, raced up the left sideline, eluded a would-be tackler and scored on a 57-yard return.
That got the defense even more fired up. Privott, poised to be one of the emotional leaders of the unit, had tackles for loss on two of the next three possessions to put the offense behind schedule. Along with his two TFL, Privott also had several other tackles for little or no gain.
“Both (Neal and Privott) have done a good job this spring,” NSU head coach Pete Adrian said. “They both have taken advantage of the additional reps they've gotten and have worked hard this spring.”
El (2.5) and outside linebacker Eugene Bazemore (1.5) also had solid scrimmages for the second unit, combined for four of the defense's five sacks. El also forced a fumble on one of his sacks, which safety Andre Bean recovered for another turnover.
The Spartans' offense bounced back nicely during the second half of the scrimmage, however. A 24-yard run by Riddick helped lead to the offense's first touchdown of the day, an 8-yard TD pass from Nico Flores to DeAndre Sangster as the first units matched up against each other.
The second units faced off on the final possession of the scrimmage, which proved to be an entertaining one. Walk-on quarterback Omari Timmons completed passes of 13 yards to wideout Wilonte' Roscoe and 12 yards to tight end James Lynch to move the offense into the red zone. A 9-yard carry by Dallas Simmons followed by an offsides penalty gave the offense a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. Two runs by Simmons were turned back short of the goal line by the middle of the NSU defense, prompting Riddick to get the call on 3rd-and-goal. Riddick plunged in from the 1 to give the offense its second and final score of the day.
Adrian was pleased with what he saw from his team Saturday.
“Considering the number of offensive linemen and some others we held out with injury, I thought both sides of the ball competed well today,” Adrian said.
Riddick led the offense with nine carries for 75 yards and a touchdown. Dre'Quez Lambert rushed four times for 34 yards.
The Spartans have two dates left in their spring practice, a regular practice at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and their final scrimmage at 7 p.m. Friday. The scrimmage will be played under the lights at Dick Price Stadium, and will be free of charge and open to the public.
By Matt Michalec, SID
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