Deacons Hold Spring Scrimmage
4/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 16, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Josh Harris raced 45 yards for a touchdown for the only score in Wake Forest's spring football game on Saturday at BB&T Field. The controlled scrimmage started about 45 minutes later than the scheduled 1 o'clock start time due to inclement weather. The Demon Deacons wound up spending just over an hour on the field.
The defense outplayed the offense for much of the scrimmage. The Deacon defenders held the offense to three plays or fewer on eight of 18 offensive possessions.
"A lot of our problems on offense were just misfires," said head coach Jim Grobe. "Not getting the first down when you're close to the sticks.. I thought we dropped too many balls. Not much consistency. Certainly, if you're trying to put first downs and drives together, it only takes one dropped ball, one missed assignment to get you off the field."
The defense recorded six sacks with one each coming from OLB Kyle Wilber, DE Tristan Dorty, DE Daniel Vogelsang, LB Joey Ehrmann, DE Zach Thompson and DE Kris Redding. Wilber and NT Ramon Booi also added tackles for loss.
Harris was Wake's top rusher with 12 carries for 85 yards and the scrimmage's lone touchdown. Nick Knott had 27 yards on nine carries.
Redshirt junior Ted Stachitas was the most productive quarterback, completing eight of 11 passes for 73 yards. Tanner Price threw for 49 yards, completing seven of 14 passes.
"I thought he made some good throws," said Grobe of Stachitas. "He's throwing the ball better than he has in the past. I feel as good about our quarterback situation right now as I could."
Michael Campanaro led all receivers with five receptions. He had 34 yards receiving, second only to Chris Givens who had three receptions for 38 yards. Stachitas and Givens connected on the longest completion of the scrimmage for 29 yards.
Price was at the helm for five offensive drives with Stachitas and redshirt sophomore Brendan Cross at the helm of four possessions. Patrick Thompson quarterbacked three drives and freshman Keenon Rush had two.
Grobe was generally pleased with the progress the Deacons made this spring.
"We've been more competitive this spring than others," said Grobe. "It's been full of electricity in the air this spring. I think that's a good thing for us. I think we'll be better defensively. I think we can be better offensively but we've got to be more consistent. I feel a heckuva lot better than I did at the start of spring practice."
Grobe is excited about the maturation he saw this spring.
"I think last year we were really young with a soft group of freshmen," said Grobe. "Now we're a crusty group of sophomores. We're light years ahead of where we were last year. It's amazing how much these guys have grown up in a really short amount of time. When these guys were redshirt freshmen last spring, they went through spring ball not knowing whether they would be on the field or not. Now they know they're going to be on the field. It's a completely different mindset for our sophomores. This is a season that is going to heavily rely on that sophomore class."
Rushing (Atts-Yds) Josh Harris (12-85, 1 TD) Knott (9-27) Givens (1-8) Sutton (3-6) Pendergrass (2-4) L. Jackson (1-(1)) Rush (1-(3)) Price (1-(3)) Stachitas (6-(3)) P. Thompson (2-3) Cross (2-(12))
Passing (Att-Cmp-Yds) Price (7 of 14, 49 yards) Stachitas (8 of 11, 73 yards) Cross (1 of 6, 16 yards) Thompson (2 of 5, 16 yards) Campanero (0 of 1) Rush (0 of 1)
Receiving (Rcpt-Yds) Givens (3-38) Dembry (1-11) Terry (1-5) Bishop (1-16) Parker (1-10) Ford (1-7) Campanaro (5-34) Bohanon (2-17) Rucker (2-16) J. Harris (1-0)
Sacks Vogelsang Wilber Dorty Redding Ehrmann Z Thompson Tackle for Loss Wilber Booi
