Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Completes Second Football Scrimmage
8/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 19, 2010
The Wake Forest football team went through its second scrimmage of the 2010 preseason on Thursday afternoon at BB&T Field. The Demon Deacon offense took on the defense in the 90 minute session and ran 97 plays.
"I thought we had great energy again today," said head coach Jim Grobe. "The kids are playing real hard. At times, both sides did some good things. There were too many big plays given up by the defense. I don't like to see the big plays given up. You want to make the offense earn everything. Then I thought the offense, at times, did some really good things both running and throwing the football. A little give and take on both sides and not anything to be disappointed in on either side. As a head coach, you're happy when both sides have a little success. If one side is stunning the other, then you'd be concerned. But at times the offense looked good and at other times, the defense looked special. We still have some work to do. We've worked these guys really, really hard."
Brendan Cross led the Deacon quarterbacks, with 11 completions on 13 attempts for 104 yards. Cross also rushed for 61 yards and three touchdowns. The Deacons scored on three of Cross' first four drives.
"(Brendan) looked really good today, I thought," said Grobe. "Some of his throws could have looked a little prettier but he got the job done. He took the offense on three really good drives. I was impressed with Brendan, I thought he did some really good stuff. "
Freshman Tanner Price went 9-of-16 passing for 116 yards and a touchdown. Skylar Jones completed 8-of-12 passes totaling 99 yards, and also ran the ball seven times, including a 65-yard touchdown run. Ted Stachitas rounded out the Wake quarterbacks with five completions for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Grobe emphasized that the quarterback race is far from settled.
"We've got to go back to when we started and compile what they've done," said Grobe. "I will say, if you come on strong at the end and the other guys fade, that's another thing you've got to look at. I thought Brendon did some good things today. He's obviously competing hard.
"The thing that stood out to me the most today was the two's didn't see themselves as twos," said Grobe. "They were thinking `hey, I need to be number one.' I thought the two defense did some good things against the one offense and the one defense did some good things against the two offense."
Chris Givens had a big day with 5 carries for 93 yards, with a long of 58, and also had two receptions. Fullback Jordan Garside carried the ball seven times for 43 yards.
"(Chris) has been pretty impressive in practice," said Grobe. "He's done some really good things. He's got really good foot speed. He's becoming more of an everyday guy in practice. He's still a young guy and is still up and down. He has some good moments and some bad moments but more good moments than bad. That's what we stressed last fall, that he did some pretty spectacular things but he wasn't an every play guy. He's not where he needs to be but he's got a lot more good things going on than bad. We just have to keep working with him. We've certainly got some guys that once they've got the ball in their hands, they can do some good things with it."
Jimmy Newman went 2-for-3 on field goal attempts, with the lone miss coming from 54 yards out. Shane Popham made a 28-yard field goal and also missed a 49 yarder.
Cameron Ford caught a 65-yard touchdown pass from Price, and also made one other grab.
On defense, Daniel Mack led the Deacs with seven tackles including one for a loss. Kevin Johnson and Joe Hall each had six tackles. Kyle Wilber had a sack and a forced fumble.
Cross had the first score for the Deacs, running into the end zone from nine yards out after leading the team on a 65-yard drive.
Cross later had a five-yard run for the Deacons' second score.
After Cameron Ford's touchdown reception from Price, Cross picked up his third rushing touchdown from seven yards out.
Skylar Jones outran the entire defense for a 65-yard touchdown on a quarterback keeper, and Ted Stachitas hooked up with Jordan Williams on a 51-yard pass for the Deacons' final score.
Wake Forest's final scrimmage is scheduled for Aug. 26. Check back with WakeForestSports.com for updates.
The Deacons open the regular season on Sept. 2 against Presbyterian at BB&T Field.
