Aug. 18, 2010
Meet the Team and Ladies Night Information
Purchase 2010 Coastal Carolina Football Tickets
CONWAY - n the first day of classes at Coastal Carolina University, head football coach David Bennett gave his 2010 Chanticleers a test.
The team faced high temperatures, practicing for the first time in the middle of the afternoon, wearing full game uniforms, in a two-hour scrimmage Wednesday afternoon at Brooks Stadium. This marked the second time the team has scrimmaged in full game uniforms, having crowd noise played over the speakers and using game officials. This is all in preparation for the 3:30 kickoff in Morgantown on Sept. 4 when Coastal Carolina opens the 2010 season at 24th-ranked West Virginia.
The defense won today's scrimmage, 64-61, getting a late 36-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Marcus Lott on the second-to-last drive to push the defense over the top. (The defense got points for forcing 3-and-outs, tackles for losses and sacks, stopping drives and, of course, returning a turnover for a score. In addition to scoring touchdowns and field goals, the offense got points for first downs and big plays.)
One thing remained constant from the previous scrimmages, the quarterbacks spread the wealth. In the first two scrimmages, no receiver caught more than one pass. Today, the 12 completions went to 11 different receivers with Chris Floyd being the only one in three scrimmages to have more than one catch in a session.
The first drive, pitting the first offense versus the second defense, lasted two plays. On first down, Marcus Whitener had an 11-yard run. On the second play, Zach MacDowall hit Marquel Willis down the right sideline for a 36-yard score.
The defense took over the next five series, allowing just one 34-yard field goal by Grant Clayton. Over that span, Quinton Davis had a sack and a fumble recovery, putting the defense up 33-29 mid-way through the scrimmage. Another highlight during the stretch was a nice job done by the Chanticleer punt coverage team as Ben Erdman's punt was downed at the two.
The second offense, facing the second defense, got the offense back on track. Starting just 25 yards out, Aramis Hillary capped the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Floyd. The first unit, also starting from the 25, put three more points on the board with a 34-yard Clayton field goal. On the ensuing drive, starting from just 20 yards out, the second unit gave the offense its first lead of the day, 39-36, thanks to a 10-yard run by Anthony Frye.
After a 36-yard Clayton field goal, the first unit had a three-play drive, getting a two MacDowall completions and a 55-yard run by Whitener up the middle.
After the Lott fumble return for a score, the third-team offense capped the scoring with a 14-yard Cody Craig-to-Morgan Byrd TD.
Quotes from Coach Bennett: "The scrimmage was hot, heat index was 112 degrees and we were a little sloppy. Half of our guys are in playing shape and half need to get there fast. It comes down to the little things to get into shape like what they eat and drink in order to get into shape.
"We wanted to create as much of a game atmosphere as possible today; that's why we had crowd noise and were in full game uniforms.
"Overall, we are not where we need to be, not everyone is in shape and, in order to compete, everyone needs to be in playing shape.
"We had a great camp this year, one of the best ever, but we still have plenty of work to do in the next two weeks.
"Our offensive line needs to be in great shape, know the plays, and ready to be aggressive in order for us to play our offensive style."
RUSHING: Marcus Whitener 5-74, TD; Aaron Jones 4-8; Anthony Frye 4-14, TD; Jeff Allen 1-(-2); Eric O'Neal 4-5; Adrian Sullivan 1-3; Racheed Gause 1-(-3).
PASSING: Zach MacDowall 3-6-50, TD; Aramis Hillary 7-12-55, TD; Cody Craig 2-3-14, TD.
RECEIVING: Marquel Willis 1-39, TD; Aaron Jones 1-9; Adrian Sullivan 1-7; Chris Floyd 2-14, TD; Myron Rogers 1-6; Niccolo Mastromatteo 1-35; Trae Long 1-13; Jamie Childers 1-3; Brandon Whitley 1-8; Anthony Frye 1-6; Morgan Byrd 1-14, TD.
DEFENSIVE STATS: Desmond Steward: 2 tackle, 1 PBU; Dominique Davenport: 2 tackles, PBU, TFL; Carlton Mitchell: 3 tackles; Brooks Barbaree: 2 tackles; Jarran Devlin: 1 tackle; Mike McClure: 2 tackles; Dominique Whiteside: 3 tackle, Sack; Andrae Jacobs: PBU; Johnny Hartsfield: 2 tackles; Chris Walls: Forced Fumble; Marcus Lott: 2 tackles, fumble recovery for 36-yd TD; Philip George: Forced Fumble; Jamel Davis: 2 tackles, TFL; Quinton Davis: Sack, Fumble recovery; Kent Harper: TFL, Sack; Brian Sanders: 1 tackle; Tre Henderson: 1 tackle; Donnie Owens: 1 tackle; Brian Harrison: 1 tackle; A.J. Kelley: 1 tackle; Tarvorris Jolly: 1 tackle.
