NORMAL, Ill. – The bright sun in the sky Saturday morning during Illinois State's second scrimmage of spring practice seemed to energize the Redbird defense, as they played with purpose and came up with several big plays during the 90-play workout at Hancock Stadium.
The Redbird defense dominated the day, as David Perkins, Donavin O'Day and Daejgeon Love each picked up a sack. Linebacker Alejandro Rivera tallied 2.5 tackles-for-loss, while Teddy Corwin added a TFL as well. Arnell Anderson was the leading tackler, picking up six total tackles.
Running backs Bryce Holm and Nick Kielbasa led the offensive rushing attack with one touchdown apiece and quarterback Blake Winkler finished the day 6-of-9 for 46 yards with one touchdown.
Head coach Brock Spack put the team at its own 25-yard line to start the day. After picking up a couple of first downs, the offense stalled and was forced into back-to-back punts. Reece Attard booted a 38-yard punt, which was fair caught by Jon-Marc Anderson at the 32-yard line and Zach Breen's punt was then fair caught by Christian Gibbs. Both returners looked sharp in their second day of handling punt returns full-time. And Breen was effective in pinning the opposition deep, as his 37-yard punt in a later drive was downed at the three-yard line.
The 'Birds then proceeded to work on red zone situations, and the offense went 2-of-3 in converting touchdowns. On the first drive, Winkler connected with Matt Biegalski in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard score. After Breen's 33-yard field goal attempt on the second drive missed wide left, Holm punched in a score from five yards out.
The defense stood tall the next three drives, as the offense started from its own three-yard line, as Spack was forcing the offense to try and dig itself out of a hole. However, the session went awry for the offense, as David Kenney recovered a fumble for a touchdown and Perkins picked up a sack in the end zone for a safety. In the next session, the offense started from the 31-yard line, where Soniel Estime picked off Roberson's pass after it was initially tipped up by Josh Burch.
The next several drives were not as noteworthy, as the offense worked on new plays and different situational schemes. Sean Slattery went 1-of-2 on field goal attempts, converting a 20-yarder and missing a 41-yarder that went wide right. Â Tre Roberson for a 17-yard scramble up the right sideline to pick up a first down for the offense, but that was about the only offensive highlight of the session. Adam Pittser, still slowly adjusting to his role as a defensive lineman after converting from his spot at quarterback, recovered a fumble later in the session.
On the final drive of the day, Winkler connected with Khalil Pleas for a nice 23-yard gain to put the 'Birds in great scoring position. After Kielbasa's touchdown run was called back on a holding call, O'Day's sack forced the offense to settle for a 42-yard field goal from Breen which he booted through the uprights to end the scrimmage.
The Redbirds return to the field Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., for its 12th spring workout at Hancock Stadium. To follow all of the Redbird football spring camp action and more ISU football news, log on to GoRedbirds.com and follow the program on Twitter at @RedbirdFB.
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.ÂÂÂÂ
