STATESBORO — The offense showed up and showed out on Saturday at Paulson Stadium in the second scrimmage of Georgia Southern’s spring football camp.
Georgia Southern (10-3 in 2018) conducted the scrimmage using game-like situations, including end-of-game scenarios and red zone situations.
Rising redshirt junior quarterback Shai Werts threw for two scores in red zone situations, including an 8-yard toss to Savannah native and Benedictine graduate Wesley Kennedy III. The other Werts touchdown throw (18 yards) was hauled in by rising senior receiver Mark Michaud.
Positional battles were on full display Saturday, with the most notable spots up for grabs being running back, slot receiver and backup quarterback behind Werts.
NaJee Thompson had two receptions for 70 yards and a score. A leading starting slot candidate for 2019, Thompson, a rising sophomore, took a pass from backup quarterback hopeful Justin Tomlin 64 yards to the house for a touchdown. Tomlin, a rising redshirt freshman from Decatur, finished his morning with 94 yards passing and 45 yards rushing on seven carries.
Redshirt sophomore running back Jared Daniels racked up 94 yards on seven carries and scored from five yards out early on. Daniels figures to be in contention for carries this fall along with Kennedy, Logan Wright, Grant Walker and Matt LaRoche. Oklahoma State transfer J.D. King was featured once again on Saturday, rushing a scrimmage-high nine times for 35 yards.
King, who will sit out this season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules, rushed seven times for 79 yards and a score in the first GS spring scrimmage Feb. 23.
“Obviously we lost some key players from last year, so there are some spots to be filled and these guys made a case for getting some playing time this fall,” said second-year head coach Chad Lunsford.
“We’ve put a lot of emphasis on situational stuff and trying to get better, and now we have to finish strong in this last week.”
Defensively, GS got sacks from 2018 transfer Reynard Ellis as well as Quan Griffin and Ty Phillips. Another transfer from the 2018 class, linebacker Emory McKenzie (City College of San Francisco) picked off an attempted pass in the end zone and nearly took it to the house, returning the pick 73 yards.
“It was good to see some young guys who haven’t seen as much action in ballgames to step up and make plays today,” Lunsford said.
Rising senior placekicker Tyler Bass hit from 37, 41 and 48 yards to close out the day.
GS will conclude its spring camp this week with Paulson practices on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday before the 11 a.m. Blue-White spring game on Saturday, March 9 in Statesboro. The format for Saturday’s spring game will be announced on Monday, Lunsford said.
Travis Jaudon is a sports reporter covering Georgia Southern athletics for the Savannah Morning News. Follow him on Twitter @JaudonSports.
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