Wake Forest Athletics
Popham Boots Five Field Goals in Scrimmage
4/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 5, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Sophomore Shane Popham converted five of six field goal attempts and quarterback Riley Skinner threw a touchdown pass to highlight Wake Forest's first scrimmage of the spring season on Saturday, April 4 at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex on the Wake Forest campus.
Popham converted kicks of 25, 28, 40, 40 and 50 yards during the scrimmage. The Deacons ran approximately 80 plays during the hour and 20 minute scrimmage.
Skinner, Wake's starter in all 13 games last year, completed 11 of 16 passes for 128 yards. He completed each of his final five pass attempts including a 5-yard scoring pass to Devon Brown.
A total of four quarterbacks saw action in the controlled scrimmage. Skinner led the Deacon offense to nine first downs while Ryan McManus directed the offense on five series that collected first downs. McManus was five of seven passing on the day for 52 yards. Skylar Jones completed four of six passes for 42 yards and Ted Stachitas completed two of five passes for 18 yards.
Head coach Jim Grobe was generally pleased with the play of his signal callers. McManus, Jones and Stachitas are competing for the number two spot behind Skinner when fall camp begins in August.
"This is the first time those guys have gone out and gotten a call from the sideline, have to make the check at the line of scrimmage, make sure they have the personnel group right," said Grobe. "They've never had to do that before. I think we're going to be okay there but I don't think there's a clear cut guy. I thought Sky Jones did some really nice things today and seemed a lot more settled. I thought Ted Stachitas has a way to go because he hasn't has an opportunity to do much yet. Ryan McManus is going to manage the offense really well. He had a couple of really nice throws. Ryan's at the head of the pack because of his experience but the other two really have some talent, especially the ability to make something happen when things fall apart. There's not anybody on the team that's worked harder than Ryan so it's nice to see him get some snaps and doing some good things with them."
Brown's touchdown catch as one of four receptions he had on the day, collecting 41 yards. Chris Givens led all receivers in yardage with three catches for 65 yards including catches of 30 and 23 yards. Terence Davis tied for the team-high with four catches, collecting 32 yards.
During one drive, Skinner connected on consecutive passes for Jodan Williams for seven yards and then hit Brown for 20.
Lovell Jackson had the longest rush of the day, going 35 yards on a drive that resulted in Popham's 40-yard field goal.
Freshman Tommy Bohanon started the game at fullback as 2008 starter Mike Rinfrette sat out the scrimmage after suffering a concussion earlier in the week. Bohanon finished with 18 yards on five carries. Starting running back Kevin Harris had 30 yards on six carries. Jackson led al rushers with 65 yards on eight carries. Josh Adams gained 32 yards on five carries including a 21-yarder.
Willie Dixon tied Jackson with a game-high nine carries. Dixon gained 39 yards including a long run of 18 yards.
Defensive end Kevin Smith collected a sack and a tackle for loss. Safety John Stamper had a 20-yard return of a fumble and Junior Petit-Jean recorded the lone interception of the day. Jonathan Jones broke up a Skinner pass intended for tight end Ben Wooster in the end zone. Defensive end Tristan Dorty picked up a tackle for loss and C.J. Washington, playing corner this spring, had a seven-yard sack on a corner blitz.
"I thought the defensive kids played hard today, they flew around out there," said Grobe. "I was proud of our defensive front guys. They took a lot of snaps because we're so thin there. I thought the intensity was really good but I don't think we played very disciplined football defensively."
On the day, the rushed 50 times for 194 yards while the Deacons completed 22 of 34 passes for 240 yards.
Wake will hold its annual spring game at noon on April 18 at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex.
Rushing: Bohanon 5-18, Harris 6-30, Dixon 8-39, A. Williams 3-13, Adams 5-32, Jackson 8-65, Jones 6-20, Skinner 2-(-16), Stachitas 5-(-15), Hartford 1-0, McManus 1-8
Passing Skinner 11- 16 -128, McManus 5-7-52, Jones 4-6-82, Stachitas 2-5-18 yards Total: 22 of 34 for 240 yards
Receiving Harris 1-8, Wooster 2-23, J. Williams 2-27, Brown 4-41, Parker 3-24, Davis 4-32, Givens 3-65, Dixon 2-15, A. Williams 1-5
Scoring: Popham 25 field goal good Popham 20 field goal miss Popham 28 field goal goods Popham 40 field goal good Popham 40 field goal good Brown 5 pass from Skinner (PAT By Cline Beam failed/bad snap) Popham 50 field goal
