Wake Forest Athletics
Mauk Goes 8-for-8 In Spring Scrimmage
4/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 8, 2006
Winston-Salem, NC -- Junior quarterback Benjamin Mauk engineered touchdowns on each of his first two drives and completed all eight of his passes in the team's annual spring scrimmage on Saturday. The Deacons went head-to-head for 90 minutes at the team's on-campus practice facility in a controlled scrimmage rather than a traditional style game.
Mauk led the first team offense 65 yards on 11 plays during the opening drive. The key play was a 12-yard, third down completion in the red zone to tight end Zac Selmon. Moments later, Micah Andrews scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Andrews finished the day with eight carries, a team-best 41 yards with a touchdown.
On the next drive, the second team offense led by redshirt freshman quarterback Riley Skinner was stopped near midfield by the first team defense. On second down, Aaron Curry batted down Skinner's pass and on third down Riley Swanson dragged down a receiver short of the first down.
The first team offense scored another touchdown on their second drive. Mauk was a perfect 4-for-4 on that scoring march and finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown run. Mauk rushed five times for 12 yards and did not take a sack.
The Wake Forest punt block unit got into the scoring act as well. Chip Vaughn blocked Jon Temple's punt and Kerry Major scooped up the ball around the five-yard line and easily got into the endzone for a touchdown.
Later in the scrimmage, Skinner showed some big play ability by hitting wide receivers Kenneth Moore and Willie Idlette on deep pass plays. Idlette's went 61 yards and set up a short De'Angelo Bryant touchdown run. Skinner found Moore for a 52-yard touchdown pass up the right sideline. Skinner finished 5-for-8 passing for 124 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 21 yards on four carries, including an 11-yard scamper.
Fellow redshirt freshman quarterback Brett Hodges also saw extensive action and was effective. Hodges went 5-for-7 for 42 yards.
Defensively, the Deacons totaled seven sacks, though none came against the first team offense. Sophomore Chantz McClinic led all players with seven tackles. Sophomore middle linebacker Eric Berry had a big day with six tackles, three for loss, including two sacks. Junior linebacker Jon Abbate made four tackles, two behind the line of scrimmage and had 1.5 sacks.
The biggest hits of the day were delivered by Josh Gattis and Curry. Gattis blasted Mike Rinfrette after a short reception, jarring the ball free before sending Rinfrette out of bounds. Curry recovered the fumble. Later, Curry lit up an unsuspecting Trey Schmidt who had been overthrown on a shallow route.
Kickers Sam Swank and Jon Temple each made three of their six field goal attempts. Temple connected from 42 yards twice and once from 37. Swank made two from 37 and one from 42. Both missed two kicks from 47 yards out.
Despite the threat of rain and thunderstorms, hundreds of Deacon fans were on-hand to enjoy the action up close. All were invited to stand along the sidelines at field level.
A handful of players did not participate in the scrimmage due to injury including tight end Dan Callahan, offensive tackle Louis Frazier, safety Patrick Ghee, offensive tackle Jeff Griffin, wide receivers Jonathan Jones and Nate Morton, tight end Ted Randolph and defensive linemen Matt Robinson, Zach Stukes and Jeremy Thompson. All are expected to return in August at full speed.
The Deacons return 48 letterwinners, including 19 starters, from last year's 4-7 team. Wake Forest brings back ten starters on defense, eight on offense and one specialist.
The Deacons turn their attention to the 2006 season. Preseason camp will open in early August and the season opener is set for Saturday, September 1 at Groves Stadium against Syracuse.
