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Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics
Fall Camp Wraps With Strong Defensive Performance
8/22/2016 11:09:00 AM | Football
The Murray State football team ended its 2016 fall camp Sunday night under the lights of Stewart Stadium with a final scrimmage before the September 3 season opener at Illinois. While the lights were bright, they were not the only things shining as the defense had a big day that include 8.0 sacks, four interceptions and fumble recovery for a touchdown.
"The defense dominated the night," said head coach Mitch Stewart. "The offense couldn't handle the pressure, so the defense kept pressuring and pressuring and the offense couldn't handle it one time. They just had a lot of pride in what they were doing tonight and it showed."
The scrimmage began with senior Toby Omli picking off senior quarterback KD Humphries, which was followed two plays later by junior Zach Shipley making an interception and returning it for a touchdown. That would not be the last the offense heard of Shipley on the evening, as he returned later and made his second pick of the night.
Sophomore Quincy Williams also had a good night for the "blue shirts," as he came up with 1.5 sacks and huge pass break up. Other defensive highlights included an interception by Nigel Walton and a fumble recovery for a touchdown by junior Dylan Boone. Omli finished his evening with two pass breakups, while Zachary Wade led the way in sacks with two solo.
Despite the offensive struggles on Sunday night, Stewart thinks the experience was overall a positive one for the offense as it provided a lot of learning opportunities.
"There will be a lot of teaching moments on the film and I think we just showed our youth. We had a lot of drops and some confusion. But I knew that, going into it, that's what I have said from day one is that we are very young and we are trying to play through that. We have a quarterback who is out there trying to gel with some young receivers and it's just a different ballgame back there just because he doesn't have the guys he's used to throwing to."
Humphries did have two touchdown passes on the night, along with a couple on lengthy scrambles from line of scrimmage. Both touchdown passes were 18 yards and were caught by freshman Jonathan Moss and senior transfer Malik Golson. Junior running back Demetric Johnson also had a touchdown in the game, breaking off a 19-yard run.
Special teams was another bright spot in the scrimmage. Senior kicker Connor Mitchell made both of his field goal attempts from 33 and 37 yards, while also converting both of his PAT attempts. Freshman kicker James Sappington also made an impact by hitting a 34-yard field goal and a PAT.
Sophomore punter Landon Stratton also shone in the scrimmage by placing multiple punts inside the 20-yard line. Returns were also big on the night with Golson having a 43-yard punt return and junior D'Montre Wade going 70 yards on a kickoff return.
"I've been very happy with special teams, we've kicked it very well from a field goal standpoint. Connor Mitchell has done an extremely good job, just a lot more accurate than I have seen him in the past. He's improved dramatically and I'm very excited about him. Landon Stratton had a good punt that he pinned, down there in the red zone, inside the 10 one time. We also have some return guys that, eventhough they are new, I think can do some things with the football. Overall, I'm just very excited to see the progress that Coach [Jake] Johnson and Coach [Sean] Dawkins have made with the special team, it's been fun to watch."
With camp over, the Racers now look to their September 3 trip to Memorial Stadium in Champaign for a 2:30 kickoff against Illinois that will air live on the Big Ten Network.
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"The defense dominated the night," said head coach Mitch Stewart. "The offense couldn't handle the pressure, so the defense kept pressuring and pressuring and the offense couldn't handle it one time. They just had a lot of pride in what they were doing tonight and it showed."
The scrimmage began with senior Toby Omli picking off senior quarterback KD Humphries, which was followed two plays later by junior Zach Shipley making an interception and returning it for a touchdown. That would not be the last the offense heard of Shipley on the evening, as he returned later and made his second pick of the night.
Sophomore Quincy Williams also had a good night for the "blue shirts," as he came up with 1.5 sacks and huge pass break up. Other defensive highlights included an interception by Nigel Walton and a fumble recovery for a touchdown by junior Dylan Boone. Omli finished his evening with two pass breakups, while Zachary Wade led the way in sacks with two solo.
Despite the offensive struggles on Sunday night, Stewart thinks the experience was overall a positive one for the offense as it provided a lot of learning opportunities.
"There will be a lot of teaching moments on the film and I think we just showed our youth. We had a lot of drops and some confusion. But I knew that, going into it, that's what I have said from day one is that we are very young and we are trying to play through that. We have a quarterback who is out there trying to gel with some young receivers and it's just a different ballgame back there just because he doesn't have the guys he's used to throwing to."
Humphries did have two touchdown passes on the night, along with a couple on lengthy scrambles from line of scrimmage. Both touchdown passes were 18 yards and were caught by freshman Jonathan Moss and senior transfer Malik Golson. Junior running back Demetric Johnson also had a touchdown in the game, breaking off a 19-yard run.
Special teams was another bright spot in the scrimmage. Senior kicker Connor Mitchell made both of his field goal attempts from 33 and 37 yards, while also converting both of his PAT attempts. Freshman kicker James Sappington also made an impact by hitting a 34-yard field goal and a PAT.
Sophomore punter Landon Stratton also shone in the scrimmage by placing multiple punts inside the 20-yard line. Returns were also big on the night with Golson having a 43-yard punt return and junior D'Montre Wade going 70 yards on a kickoff return.
"I've been very happy with special teams, we've kicked it very well from a field goal standpoint. Connor Mitchell has done an extremely good job, just a lot more accurate than I have seen him in the past. He's improved dramatically and I'm very excited about him. Landon Stratton had a good punt that he pinned, down there in the red zone, inside the 10 one time. We also have some return guys that, eventhough they are new, I think can do some things with the football. Overall, I'm just very excited to see the progress that Coach [Jake] Johnson and Coach [Sean] Dawkins have made with the special team, it's been fun to watch."
With camp over, the Racers now look to their September 3 trip to Memorial Stadium in Champaign for a 2:30 kickoff against Illinois that will air live on the Big Ten Network.
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