Eastern receiver Terry Jackson II hauls in a touchdown in Saturday's scrimmage.
Eastern Washington has been trying to get true balance into its prolific pass-oriented offense for several years.
Not since 2010 when Taiwan Jones rocketed out of the backfield in electrifying fashion has Eastern had a running game to truly compliment its explosive passing game.
Last Saturday's first scrimmage of fall camp staged at Roos Field in front of several hundred fans, seemed to finally showcase the return of the run.
The ground game accounted for 208 of the team's total of 409 yards, led by the 8-carry, 69-yard effort of sophomore running back Jabari Wilson. Mario Brown and Conner Baumann each scored on 4-yard runs.
"We have four or five players we can rely on, and that's a great problem to have," Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin said. "It keeps the competition alive and keeps us fresh at that position no matter where we are in the season."
Eight different players scored in the 75-play scrimmage to wrap-up the first full week of preseason practices. But none got more cheers than true freshman linebacker Alek Kacmarcik. He scored when he picked up an errant pitch and returned it 55 yards untouched for a score.
"There were plays being made by both the offense and defense," Baldwin said. "The tempo offense we used is going to help us on both sides of the ball, and we need to carry that over into this week's practices."
Walter Payton Award candidate and All-America quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. passed for 103 yards and three touchdowns. Five Eastern quarterbacks combined to complete 21-of-33 passes for 201 yards.
Sophomore Kendrick Bourne led all receivers with five catches for 59 yards and a TD from Adams who also had scoring tosses to Nic Sblendorio and Terence Grady. Jordan West had a TD pass to Terry Jackson II, and former Camas (Wash.) High School teammates Reilly Hennessey and Zach Eagle.
Another true freshman, Marcus Saugen from Spokane's North Central High School, paced all tacklers with seven. Cornerback Rashad Wadood, a transfer from Arizona State, had a pair of passes broken up and a tackle. One of those hits was a pad-rattler on Jalani Phelps.
Eastern will also scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 16 at approximately 9:50 a.m. at Roos Field.
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)