The Illinois State defense only allowed one scoring drive, forced six turnovers and recorded four sacks to highlight the Redbirds 130-play scrimmage Sunday afternoon at Hancock Stadium.
Redshirt freshman Wally Cirafesi orchestrated the only scoring drive with his one-yard scoring plunge, capping off a 70-yard drive, but interceptions by Sam Yeargin, Ramon Barber,
Kye Stewart and
Kurt James stole the show. Head coach Denver Johnson was pleased with the play of his defense.
There was a lot of hitting out here, Johnson said. I thought our defense stepped up and played well. I dont think the offense matched the defenses intensity for much of the practice. Overall though, I was pleased with the intensity and tenaciousness that the defense showed.
I hope weve made strides on defense and havent taken a step back on offense. We can definitely run and close in on the ball defensively. (Brent) Hawkins is having a great spring and theres some interesting things shaking up in the secondary.
Cirafesi guided the Redbird offense to 11 first downs and was the only signalcaller not to throw an interception. He finished the day going 14-for-16 on passing and a team-high 101 yards. Fellow redshirt freshman
Kevin Brockway also showed some promise, leading the offense to six first downs on 6-for-11 passing. He threw for 59 yards, but was also picked off once.
The offense got good support from the Redbird running backs. Michigan transfer
Pierre Rembert led the way with 64 yards on 13 carries, while Brian Thompson finished with 19 attempts for 62 yards.
Rafael Rice also added 40 yards on the ground with 13 rushes.
I thought all three of the running backs did a good job, but overall, I dont think it was our best day offensively, Johnson said. However, we got a lot of things on film, so well have a chance to evaluate, correct and hopefully improve.
Sophomore quarterback
Luke Drone showed his athleticism by rushing for 24 yards on four carries. The Redbird quarterbacks were not protected with the yellow jersey and handled some hard hits.
Luke (Drone) showed some scrambling ability and (Kevin) Brockway did some nice things as well, Johnson said. He showed some running ability on broken plays when our protection would break down.
Drone passed for 67 yards on 7-for-14 passing, but had two interceptions. Junior college transfer Nick Gehrts completed 3-of-12 for 24 yards and had an interception.
Sophomore Kevett Mickle led all receivers with 58 yards on five catches. The defense was led by redshirt freshman
Cameron Bateman with seven tackles, while
Niall Campbell and Sesamir Yearby each posted six stops.
The Redbird defense also got quarterback sacks from
Dan Simnick, Kory Anderson, Brent Hawkins and Montel Conner.
ISU returns to the practice field on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
SPRING NOTES:
Senior all-conference guard Stafford Davis missed the scrimmage due to minor tendonitis.
Redshirt freshman
Landon Humbles is currently working out at offensive guard, after opening camp at tight end.
Senior tight end Jonathan Denley missed the scrimmage after suffering a stinger in the team period prior to the scrimmage.
