Defense starts fast, offense rebounds late in ETSU football’s first scrimmage
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – It felt more like a November SoCon kickoff than an April scrimmage for ETSU football on Saturday morning. Despite the chill, the Blue and Gold scrimmaged for nearly an hour inside William B. Greene Jr. Stadium.
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“Very proud of our enthusiasm – you can tell guys want to be out here,” head coach Tre Lamb said. “We have a lot of hop in our step. We haven’t had to drag these guys out here at all.”
With three referees on the field, it was the first officiated segment the squad had participated in all spring. Although, the quarterbacks still wore the protective red jerseys and received little to no contact.
On just the second series, the defense forced its first turnover.
St. Francis transfer, Cole Doyle, hit Just Franklin on an inside route for a nice gain, making one man miss. But, as the Gardner-Webb transfer cut back outside, the defense punched the ball out – as sophomore linebacker Ray Coney fell on the football.
Just moments later, William Riddle has has quick pass deflected by Malachi Jim-Lawson. Sophomore defensive back Carlton Horine waited underneath it for the interception, as the defensive bench erupted.
“Three and outs, turnovers – that’s what we live by,” redshirt senior linebacker Zach West said afterwards. “So, we’re trying to get after the offense as best we can. It’s going to make them better and they’re making us better – vice versa.”
After a few stalled drives, Riddle led the offense down the field for its first score of the game. He used a play-action handoff in the redzone to open up an easy pass over the middle to another GWU transfer – Kendall Williams.
In the final drives, Doyle lofted a perfect ball to the near sideline for freshman Travien Watson, who tapped his feet down in the endzone for a score. UConn transfer running back, Devontae Houston, muscled in for the final score of the morning on a short swing pass inside the five-yard line.
“I was very proud of our defense – I thought they flew to the ball, they caught us in some nice calls and they did a really good job of running around and making plays,” Lamb said. “Offense – we kind of caught our stride there a couple times.”
Lamb acknowledged that the offense will continue to improve as it spends more practice time with the new offensive system. Still, an area for immediate improvement is starting drives off strong.
“I want to see us be a little bit better on first down,” he said. “I feel like we were behind the chains a lot. First down was not very productive for us, which is the most important down.”
The Bucs will continue its spring schedule with a padded practice on Tuesday, before lining up for another scrimmage on Friday.
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