Red Wolves conduct first spring football scrimmage

JONESBORO — The Arkansas State football team used its sixth spring practice to conduct its first scrimmage, which ran approximately 109 players and featured some special teams work, Wednesday night inside Centennial Bank Stadium.

Eight days into their spring camp, the first of three scrimmages planned for the Red Wolves featured some big plays on both sides of the ball as the offense scored five touchdowns. The defense came up with a pair of turnovers, while also collecting multiple sacks and pass break-ups.

“I thought we played hard and physical with good energy,” said Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson. “There were some big plays on both sides, it was a competitive practice and we got out of it healthy for the most part. It was our first scrimmage, so this will give us something to build off of.”

The offense recorded four passing touchdowns, including two from senior Justice Hansen and two from sophomore Logan Bonner. The two players combined for 41 completions and 389 yards through the air. Arkansas State had 12 different players come up with a catch, including junior receiver Darveon Brown with a team-high seven.

Junior wideout Omar Bayless posted approximately 120 receiving yards and accounted for one touchdown, while junior Dahu Green hauled in a pair of scoring passes. Sophomore Jonathan Adams Jr. caught only one pass, but it went for a 45yard touchdown.

Carrying the bulk of the running load were backs Warren Wand and Armond Weh-Weh, who both ran for 68 yards. Weh-Weh accounted for the only touchdown on the ground, a six-yard run.

“We did some good things offensively, but we were inconsistent,” said Anderson. “A lot of that can be attributed to our defense — pass rush was big. We had a couple of really good drives and big plays, but then we would make a mistake. I would like to see that cleaned up by (our scrimmage) next Saturday, and that’s the challenge, to continue to improve every day.”

The Red Wolves had six players who recorded at least one pass break-up and came up with eight combined sacks from five different players, including senior defensive end Ronheen Bingham with three and junior linebacker Kevin Powers with two. Junior safety Logan Wescott recorded an interception, senior defensive end Jarrod Chandler recovered a fumble and senior safety Michael Johnson had a forced fumble as well.

“We don’t really have everyone out there on defense yet,” Anderson said. “We have some guys injured and we have some guys that will come in later, but they played well at the point of attack against some deep passes and did well at the line of scrimmage. So it was give and take — I think we had big plays from the skill guys on offense and the defense responded and had some big plays there. This will be a good tape to watch, and I think we’ll learn a lot from today.”

Arkansas State’s next practice is scheduled for Monday.