Spring Practice 11: Second Scrimmage Down

NORMAL, Ill.  – For the second week in row, the Illinois State defense dominated and controlled the action for the majority of the day against the Redbird offense in the second scrimmage of the spring, Saturday morning, at Hancock Stadium.
    
After a quick warmup, the scrimmage started with the offense coming off its own goal line. A play-action pass from Jake Kolbe to Jake Hendershot went for 25 yards to get things started off on the right foot. However, on the ensuing snap, Artiss Henderson was stopped in the end zone by a group of defenders for a safety and the defense never really looked back. Overall, the defense tallied eight sacks, 14 TFLs, eight pass breakups, two interceptions and recovered three fumbles on the day.

Senior James Graham recorded a pair of sacks and Decxavier Kelly-Martin finished the day with a sack and 2.5 TFLs. Brannon Barry added three tackles and an interception and Christian Uphoff led the way with five tackles and an interception of his own. Willie Edwards finished with a TFL as well, and ripped a ball out of a receiver's hands and ran the other way for a 39-yard touchdown to put points on the board for the defense.

As aggressive as the defense was, the offense was able to make some plays when it counted. Quarterback Tristan Smith finished the day 8-for-16 with 156 yards and a pair of touchdown passes, including a 46-yard strike to Chase Pankey. He also connected on a 21-yard touchdown in the red zone to Andy Mills and found Anthony Fowler for 37 yards, which set up a 19-yard rushing touchdown by Jordan Birch. 

Kolbe finished his day 11-for-20, highlighted by a 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tylor Petkovich. The passing attack was very inclusive, as 15 different players caught passes with Petkovich and Spencer Schnell leading with four grabs each. Birch, Hasan Muhammad-Rogers and Markel Smith each rushed for nearly 30 yards and James Robinson finished with six carries to even out the carries for the offensive unit.

The Redbirds will return to Hancock Stadium on Tuesday to begin their final week of spring workouts. For live practice updates, photos and video follow the official Redbird Football Twitter account @RedbirdFB and log on to GoRedbirds.com for full coverage throughout the spring.

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