Fall Camp Report 4: Back And Forth Battle In First Scrimmage

NORMAL, Ill. – It was a beautiful day for a football scrimmage at Hancock Stadium Saturday morning, as the Redbird football team held its first intra-squad scrimmage of fall camp under bright and sunny skies. The 'Birds went through 110-plus plays in the two-plus hour practice and the offense was strong and balanced throughout the day and challenged by the defensive unit. 

The scrimmage consisted of several different scenarios, including coming off the goal line, driving the field, red zone, goal line and ended with a two-minute drill. It was the first of three this fall, prior to the season opener on Sept. 1 vs. Saint Xavier.

Offensive Highlights:
•    15 different players caught passes during the scrimmage, with senior Matt Bielgalski leading the way with four catches for 65 yards and a touchdown … Kentre Patterson also had a solid morning, with three grabs for 67 yards with a long of 28 yards
•    The big pass play of the day came early for the offense, when Memphis transfer Brady Davis connected with Braxton Haley on a 48-yard strike for the first touchdown of the day
•    Jordan Birch led the way on the ground with 57 yards on 10 carries with a score, and Markel Smith added the long run of the day on a 57-yard touchdown blast midway through the scrimmage
•    Senior quarterback Jake Kolbe was efficient as always, completing 13-of-18 passes for 132 yards …  Davis went 5-for-12 for 98 yards, but tossed a pair of touchdowns on the day with one each to Haley and Biegalski
•    The kicking game also produced for the offense, with Sam Fenlason connecting on all three of his field goal attempts (32, 31, 24) and JT Bohlken making his only attempt of the day from 30 yards out … Bohlken also averaged 46 yards per punt on the day, with a long of 50 yards that was aided by a nice bounce and roll on the new turf

Defensive Highlights:
•    The defense produced three turnovers on the day, with freshman defensive back Charles Woods and Willie Edwards each recording an interception off Davis and fumble recovery that would have been returned 67 yards for a score by Josh Barajas had the play not been whistled over
•    Senior linebacker Zackary Mathews led the defense with nine tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble on the day … Ty DeForest, Decxavier Kelly-Martin and Mitchell Brees all finished with six stops 
•    Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Jason Lewan was also very disruptive with two sacks and Eric Scott was all over the place with two tackles, a sack and two pass breakups 
•    In total, the defense racked up eight sacks, 18 TFLs, 7 breakups and had the three takeaways

Thoughts From Coach Spack:
"We've had a really tough week of practice and I thought our guys worked extremely hard today. There were some big plays offensively early that the defense would like to have back, but I thought they made some big plays as well especially in the red zone. The scrimmage had the ebbs and flows you want to see as a coach and I never felt it got too one-sided, which shows we have a solid football team right now. There will be a lot of things we see on tape today that will be good teaching moments for our team and our coaching staff. A lot more good than bad, and all the mistakes made are correctable which is encouraging."

Camp News & Notes:
•    The team met with officials following the scrimmage to learn about new rules and points of emphasis for the 2018 season

Up Next:
Following an off day on Sunday, the team will return to the field Monday at 8:30 a.m. for practice No. 9. For live updates, photos, and video from 2018 Redbird Football Fall Camp, follow the team's official Twitter account @RedbirdFB and log onto GoRedbirds.com.

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