Marcus Williams capped off this year’s Red–White game by running 99 yards for a touchdown after intercepting Conner Manning’s last-second attempt to score. It was one of the few exciting plays of the game, which the White team won 12-0.
“At the beginning of the game, I said if there was going to be a touchdown, I’m going to be the one to make it,” Williams said. “I had that much confidence. It didn’t happen on offense, so I made it on defense. It was a long run, but I was conditioned to do it.”
Trailing 6-0 and with the clock running out, the Red team was desperate to get some points on the board, and on a fourth down with 12 yards to go, Manning fired into the end zone.
“We had to score, and Marcus made a really good play on it,” Manning said. “Didn’t execute as well as we wanted to.”
Head coach Kyle Whittingham was happy to see the touchdown, even if it was at the last second.
“Heck of a play,” Whittingham said. “Filled in for Tevin Carter and has had a lot of playing time for a freshman. He’s really got a bright future.”
Although the offense wasn’t able to produce any touchdowns with Donovan Isom leading the White and Manning leading the Red, Manning does not feel discouraged.
“[I need to] continue to get better,” Manning said. “Looking forward to a good summer and maturing more physically.”
Manning finished with 96 yards on 16-of-33 passing and four interceptions. Isom didn’t show too well either, passing for only 15 yards, but he had 42 yards rushing and was also picked off one time.
Andy Phillips had a pair of field goals — one from 38 yards and the other from 53 yards, and the crowd erupted with cheers when the ball went through.
Whittingham said the offense will have a completely different feel once Devontae Booker is ready to go, but for now he thinks the offense improved throughout spring.
“I think we’ve made progress,” Whittingham said. “Players are excited about what we’re doing.”
Andrew Fletcher finished with 50 yards rushing. Right behind him was Monte Seabrook with 47 yards for the White team. However, the Red defense was able to get to Isom as he was sacked twice. Hayden Clegg finished with 1.5 sacks, and Jason Fanaika had 0.5.
Quarterbacks Travis Wilson and Chase Hansen didn’t suit up — Wilson because they did not want to risk him getting injured and Hansen because he injured his pinkie finger and coaches did not want to make the situation worse. The duo were just two of the starters who didn’t play on Saturday, as coaches took a cautious route to the contest.
“Overall it was a clean game and [the] key is, nobody got hurt,” Whittingham said. “Hopefully the fans got a taste of what our team’s all about. [We] want to make sure all the starters are there on September 3, so we had those guys out today for good reason.”
Justin Thomas sat out but said he was excited about the things he saw out on the field and is eager to play.
“I’ve seen some good things today,” Thomas said. “I’m ready to go [for fall].”
Come fall, Wilson, Hansen and Kendal Thompson will be the quarterbacks who get all the reps in practice. Even though Manning is not listed amongst those three, he knows his role.
“[I will] just do whatever I can to help the team,” Manning said.
According to Williams, the defensive showdown was a result of the unit coming together in preparation for the fall.
“We’re just playing our techniques right, just trying to get everything handled for the regular season,” Williams said. “We’re all pushing each other to the best of our abilities.”
Overall, Whittingham feels like the team had a successful offseason and is looking forward to getting back out on the field again.
“We had a good spring,” Whittingham said. “There was no bad practices. We took a good step forward every single practice. Losing Troy McCormick is a big negative coming out of spring, but we move on and get ready for summer player development.”
@kbrenneisen