NORFOLK, Va. – Defense was the order of the evening as the Spartan football team's final preseason scrimmage ended with offense failing to find the end zone and the defense notching two takeaways before several hundred onlookers at Dick Price Stadium.
The hour-long session also focused heavily on special teams as the Spartans went through their final full-squad scrimmage before next week's season opener against Virginia State. The first-team offense and first-team defense only went head-to-head on the first drive of the night. Led by quarterback Dennis Brown (Miami, Fla.), the Spartans' offense picked up two first downs before a holding penalty slowed the drive down.
Freshman linebacker Terrence Pugh (Chesapeake, Va.) halted the drive altogether with a pair of touch-sacks of Brown, the second of which came as a result of air-tight coverage from the secondary.
The second-team units went against each other on the next drive of the night. A bad snap from center resulted in a fumble recovery by the defense.
After extended work on kickoff and punt returns and coverage, the defense held on the next two possessions. The second was thwarted thanks to an interception by preseason All-American Terrell Whitehead (Virginia Beach, Va.).
The first-team offense got on the board on its last possession of the night during red-zone work. Preseason All-MEAC kicker Justin Castellat (Virginia Beach, Va.) booted a 26-yard field goal for the only true points of the evening.
The second-team offense had the last possession of the night, but was driven back by three consecutive sacks by the defense. Bursting through the line for the stops were Corwin Hammond (Louisville, Ky.), Josh Turner (Chesterfield, Va.) and Deon Norris (Ewing, N.J.).
The scrimmage ended with field-goal practice. Castellat connected from 52 yards out. Backup kicker Ryan Estep (Chesapeake, Va.) had a very solid night, connecting on all four of his kicks with a long of 47.
“Well, it will be good to play someone other than yourself,” head coach Pete Adrian said. “We know each other very well, so it will be good to line up against someone we don't know as well. Certainly, we want to tighten up on some of the penalties we had tonight, but in all we've had a good preseason and are excited to play Virginia State.”
Kickoff in the 2009 Virginia Lottery Labor Day Classic is at 6 p.m. next Saturday night, Sept. 5, at Dick Price Stadium.
