Eight sacks, 25 tackles for loss and a veteran advantage helped the football team’s defense defeat the offense 69-40 at Kennesaw State’s annual spring game on Friday, March 22.
Playing with an alternative scoring system that rewarded the offense for making progress down the field and the defense for preventing it, both sides aimed to show the talents of next season’s prospective roster.
With a rotation of quarterbacks, the gold-clad offense struggled early on and found itself down by seven points to the defense, who wore black jerseys.
“Offensively, we got some work to do,” head coach Brian Bohannon said. “A lot of youthful moments under the lights, and I think [there’s] a lot we can learn from.”
The first touchdown of the game came late in the second quarter when sophomore quarterback Jonathan Murphy threw a 14-yard pass to senior wide receiver Monte Jones.
Despite the brief offensive resurgence, the defense maintained composure and led the offense 22-16 at halftime.
Another sophomore helped the offense stay in the game during the third quarter as running back Antavius Grier scored a touchdown to make the score 26-24. This would be the closest score of the game as the defensive unit increased its aggression.
Senior defensive lineman Desmond Johnson, Jr. helped prevent the offense from taking any lead in the second half, accumulating 4.5 tackles for loss and imposing himself on nearly every play.
“I need to be a leader,” Johnson said. “We got a lot of young kids coming in … I just want to be positive for them so they know that there’s a standard we got to play at.”
With Johnson’s help and a team-leading nine tackles each from freshman Kelcy Allen and sophomore Jack Ness, the defense scored 20 unanswered points by forcing five straight three-and-out situations.
Two late fourth-quarter touchdowns were not enough for the offense to surmount the deficit, as the game ended with a final display of defensive prowess on an end zone interception.
For all of the positive aspects of the defense’s performance, the offense found certain areas of success during the game. Highlighting the offensive performances on the ground were Grier with 69 yards on seven carries and Murphy with 55 yards on 15 carries.
Senior quarterback Daniel David threw over 100 yards in limited action and is slated to be the starter for the fall season.
“He’s making smart decisions, executing the offense and taking care of the football,” Bohannon said. “His demeanor has been very even-keeled … and he has taken over a leadership role.”
David will be tasked to fill the shoes of Chandler Burks while also helping develop a largely new crop of running backs who will be replacing former Owls such as Darnell Holland and Jake McKenzie.
Competing with David at the quarterback position will be Tommy Bryant, who featured occasionally last season, while Murphy will be redshirted.
Next season’s schedule has been set for conference opponents, as the Owls will face two new conference opponents North Alabama and Hampton. The opening game of the season has not yet been determined.
