Meanwhile, quarterbacks Mateer and Eckhaus each turn in solid outings
Jamey Vinnick
PULLMAN --On two different occasions during the second scrimmage of Washington State's spring football season on Saturday, theCougar offense pushed the ball inside the opposing 5-yard line but came up empty as the defense buckled down.
The first stop came on a drive led by transfer quarterbackZevi Eckhaus. Starting at the defense's 32-yard line, Eckhaus got the offense down to the 1 with a couple short gains and 12-yard strikes to Kris Hutson and Leon Neal Jr.
Eckhaus tried a keeper on first down at the one but had nowhere to go and lost a yard. Then he tried a corner fade to Tre Shackelford, only for early enrollee freshman Kenny Worthyto knock it away. Eckahusfollowedwith another jump ball, this time to tight endAndre Dollar,but second-year freshmanWarren Smith disrupted theoccasion and the ball fell incomplete. The offense tried to simplify things on fourth down, but freshman running backWayshawn Parker was stacked up at the line, forcing the turnover on downs.
[Watch the video above for Dickert's thoughts on the day's standouts]
To conclude the scrimmage, the defense came up with another stop. FreshmanHunter Najm was in at quarterback for a drive and started at the defense's 40-yard line. The offense slowly moved the ball into the red zone, with a 16-yard completion to Keenan Kuntzbeing the biggest play.
But after that, the defense held strong. Lane Heeringa carried twice for five yards and Najm hit Van Fessler for four yards but on fourth-and-one from the 3, a pass to Kuntz sailed, giving the defense another stop and resulting in an enthusiastic celebration on that side of the ball.
Therewasn't much to report in the turnover department Saturday, with no fumbles and the only interception a tipped pass from youngBrady McKelheer that wound up in the arms of Cole Norah. But as Jake Dickert said after practice, a turnover on downs is as good as any interception or fumble recovery.
Related: Freshman Frank Cusano flying around WSU's second scrimmage and Jake Dickert takes note
THE OFFENSE HADITSmoments, however. QuarterbackJohn Mateer's first drive went nowhere but on the second, he connected with Tony Freeman for a 50-yard catch and run in which Freeman showed off hiswheels and came close to breaking free. The offense stalled after that, but Dean Janikowski finished matters with a 47-yard field goal.
The drive of the day was under Eckhaus' direction. The offense started at its own 1-yard line and on 13 plays, he took the offense down the field for a touchdown, finished off by Djouvensky Schlenbaker on a one-yard run.
Effective runs from Schlenbaker were mixed with short completions and a couple of big plays, as Eckhaus hit Dylan Paine for 20 yards, Brandon Hills for 17 and Kris Hutson for 21. Hutson's play in particular was impressive considering he got belted by a number of defensive bodies and still held on to the ball.
The rest of the touchdown drives however, were short. Mateer hit Billy Riviere for 14 yards on a drive that started on the defense's 15-yard line and on the next drive, Eckhaus connected with Trey Leckner for a 14-yard strike on a possession that began on the defense's 35-yard line.
The final touchdown was a 17-yard completion between Mateer and his favorite target Josh Meredith. But again, that drive started on the defense's 28-yard line.
THE COUGAR DEFENSEalso did a good job limiting explosive plays. There were just four plays of at least 20 yards, the completions to Paine, Hutson, and Freeman along with a 22-yard link between Hills and Jaxon Potter.The biggest play of the day actually came in special teams when Freeman took a punt to the house for roughly 70 yards.
Pressure was a constant from the defensive line, as they recorded seven sacks on the afternoon. Cusano, Kyle Thornton, Taariq Al-Uqdah, Khalil Laufau, Nusi Malani, Andrew Edson, and Jack Janikowski all got home and Cusano had a pair of tackles for loss as well, bringing down Heeringa twice behind the line.
Al-Uqdah had a TFL of his own, snuffing out a Paine run for a loss of three and Jaylon Edmond made another big play, dropping Parker for a loss of five.
AS FAR AS THE QUARTERBACKbattle, Eckhaus had the upper hand Saturday. He went 13 of 20 for 154 yards and a touchdown while Mateer was 8 of 15 for 120 yards, although he did throw two TDs.
Down the depth chart, Jaxon Potterwas 6 of 9 for 47 yards and Evans Chuba4 of 8 for 31 yards. McKelheer was 1 of 2 for five yards and an interception and Najm was 2 of 3 for 20 yards.Chuba ledthree drives, while Potterand McKelheer led two and Najm one.
In the air, here is how the receiving numbersstacked up in our charting.
- Kris Hutson: 5 catches, 46 yards
- Brandon Hills: 4 catches, 62 yards
- Leon Neal Jr.: 4 catches, 45 yards
- Josh Meredith: 3 catches,39 yards
- TreShackelford: 3 catches, 27 yards
- Dylan Paine: 2 catches, 19 yards
- Van Fessler: 2 catches, eightyards
- LeoPulalasi: 2 catches,six yards
- Tony Freeman: 1 catch,50 yards
- KeenanKuntz: 1 catch,16 yards
- Mason Juergens: 1 catch,15 yards
- TreyLeckner: 1 catch,14 yards
- Billy Riviere: 1 catch,14 yards
- CarlosHernandez: 1 catch, sixyards
- LukeLeighton: 1 catch,six yards
- Allan McKeraghan: 1 catch,five yards
- Lane Heeringa: 1 catch, loss of one yard
If the name McKeraghan is unfamiliar, that is because he is a recent roster addition and not even listed in the online roster yet. A former WSU track and field athlete, McKeraghan is out of Colville and will be wearing No. 83.
THE RUNNING GAME, AS IT HAS all spring,left something to be desired. The running backs carried 25 times for 73 hashes -- a mere 2.92 per carry. Schlenbaker led the pack with five carries for 25 yards and was followed by converted tight end Jalen Ridgeway who rumbled three times for 22 yards.
But for Parker, Pulalasi, and Paine, things were quiet. Parker galloped six times but gained just 11 yards, Pulalasi had four carries for three hashes and Paine was given the ball three times, but picked up just two yards.
WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR60 degrees, no clouds in the sky and a ton of people in town for campus tours, there was a buzz around campus. The scrimmage was supposed to be closed, but some folks found their way in to observe.
Many of the families of the coaches were in attendance, including Jace and Jett Dickert who were there with baseball gloves. The family aspect Dickert always preaches is normally at its strongest on days like this, where practice concludes and the kids of the coaches disperse around the field to play tag and the like.
Several parents of players were there as well, including Thornton's father. At this time next week, there should be a solid crowd in Martin Stadium as the spring game kicks off at 3 p.m. to wrap up spring ball.
A LOT OF PLAYERS WEREin uniform on Saturday, butsome were considerably limited. Hernandez for example did not play more than a couple of drives, neither did a couple of the offensive linemen.
Brock Dieu, Ashton Tripp, AJ Hasson and Fa'alili Fa'amoe remained out and were joined by Hudson Cedarland, Kyle Maxwell and David Gusta. Cedarland and Maxwell appeared to be dealing with some sort of injury but in all likelihood, WSU was just resting Gusta who has more than secured his spot as a starting defensive tackle.
Kyle Williams was in attendance in street clothes as he works through academic issues that have kept him out this week. Cooper Mathers also made a return albeit in a limited fashion late in the scrimmage. Syrus Webster remained limited as well.
With the note that the two-deeps would look different with a healthy roster, and that there was frequent rotation, here is how the two-deeps looked on Day 12.
- QB: John Mateer/Zevi Eckhaus
- RB: Leo Pulalasi ORDjouvensky Schlenbaker/ Dylan Paine OR Wayshawn Parker
- X: Carlos Hernandez/Tre Shackelford
- H: Josh Meredith/Brandon Hills
- Y:TonyFreeman/Kris Hutson
- Z:BrandenGanashamoorthy/Leon Neal Jr.
- TE: Andre Dollar/Trey Leckner ORBilly Riviere
- LT: Esa Pole/ZackMiller
- LG: Rod Tialavea/Christian Hilborn
- C: Devin Kylany/KyleMartin
- RG:NoahDunham/LandonRoaten
- RT:Jonny Lester/Luke Roaten
DEFENSE
- EDGE: Raam Stevenson/Andrew Edson
- DT: Ansel Din-Mbuh/Jernias Tafia
- DT: Khalil Laufau/Bryson Lamb
- EDGE: Nusi Malani/Isaac Terrell
- WIL: Kyle Thornton/Keith Brown
- MIKE: Taariq Al-Uqdah/Parker McKenna
- Nickel: Kapena Gushiken/Jaylon Edmond
- CB: Stephen Hall/Warren Smith
- CB: Jamorri Colson/Ethan O'Connor
- SS: Tanner Moku/Reece Sylvester OR Jackson Lataimua
- FS:TysonDurant/Adrian Wilson
