Lamar sports information
BEAUMONT — The Lamar football team ended the fourth week of spring camp Friday afternoon with a scrimmage at Provost Umphrey Stadium.
The second of three scrimmages planned during the spring, Friday’s workout focused on the Cardinals’ ground attack and similar to the first scrimmage witnessed an improved defense that allowed only one touchdown.
“I felt early on that our defense was dictating the scrimmage,” said LU head coach Ray Woodard. “But as the scrimmage wore on our young guys on the other side of the ball got better and better. I’m very encouraged by what I saw on the field today.
“We have really good team speed on that side of the ball. Coach [Trey] Haverty put a lot in early, but we haven’t had to add a lot lately. I wouldn’t say that they were overwhelmed, but they had a lot on their plate and they’re now grasping what he wants them to do. With the repetitions we’ve gotten better, and we will continue to get better.”
The defense ended the day with four tackles for losses, including one sack, forced a fumble and picked off a pass. Sophomore linebacker Bear Christianson led all Cardinals with five tackles, all unassisted, including two for losses. Redshirt freshman Marcus Abbott and sophomore-to-be Davon Jernigan each recorded four stops. Abbott also recorded a sack, while Jernigan ended the scrimmage with the interception – his second of the spring.
Rising sophomore Brett Cox put forth another strong effort behind center completing 4 of 5 passes for 82 yards, while junior Blake McKenzie was a perfect 3 of 3 for 46 yards. As a group, the quarterbacks were 7 for 12 for 128 yards. Beaumont native Caleb Hobbs was the top target hauling in three passes for 74 yards (24.7 yards per catch).
LU also finished the night with 122 yards on 27 carries, and one touchdown. The score came from rising senior Emmitt Raleigh on a three-yard run up the middle. Corrigan-Camden alumnus Keegan Mitchell led all Cardinals with nine carries for 74 yards, including a 40-yard scamper on his last carry of the night. Houston native Emmanuel Atoyebi added 30 yards on eight carries.
The Cardinals will be back on the practice field Monday at 7 p.m. Big Red closes out spring camp April 16 with the Crawfish Bowl. The annual scrimmage, which signifies the end of spring camp, will begin at noon at Provost Umphrey Stadium and is free to the public.