#CampCuse: Scrimmage II Recap

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse football team held its second and final preseason scrimmage under an overcast sky Saturday morning on the Schwartzwalder and Katz Fields behind the Ensley Athletic Center. The Orange's offensive and defensive units put forth a balanced effort, with the offense scoring five touchdowns and converting one field goal, while the defense recorded five sacks and forced three turnovers.

The Orange ran 125 plays in 78 minutes, with drives starting at various spots on the field. Head coach Dino Babers was pleased by the overall performance and said his squad took a step forward after last weekend's first scrimmage.

"I thought it went a little bit better," Babers said. "I thought there were some explosives plays out there. Some really good hitting from the defense, some turnovers, the offense scored some touchdowns. It was a much more balanced scrimmage than the first one."

Scrimmage 2️⃣ ✅ pic.twitter.com/IXhZte3F6Y
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Senior Eric Dungey and redshirt freshman Tommy DeVito wore black non-contact jerseys and quarterbacked the first team. Redshirt junior Clayton Welch, redshirt sophomore Rex Culpepper and freshman Chance Amie were live targets when they were on the field with the second unit.

Redshirt junior kicker Sterling Hofrichter opened the scoring with a 41-yard field goal after Welch moved the offense into range. The key play of the drive was a 50-yard completion from Welch to Sharod Johnson, the offense's longest passing gain of the day.

A few possession's later, Amie guided the offense to its first touchdown. The rookie from Flint, Texas accounted for the majority of the yards on the series, including a 40-yard run. Amie finished off the drive by connecting with Johnson on an out route, and the redshirt freshman wideout walked into the end zone for a 12-yard score.

For the second week in a row, the Orange also displayed a productive ground game, registering four rushing touchdowns. Dungey led the offense on an 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by junior wide receiver Trishton Jackson's 8-yard run to paydirt. Freshman Jarveon Howard got loose for a 19-yard score, and junior Abdul Adams found the end zone on a 51-yard dash through the middle of the Orange defense. Junior Moe Neal scored the final touchdown of the scrimmage, crossing the goal line from 10 yards out.

Defensively, junior Alton Robinson continued his strong camp by recording three sacks. Redshirt Tyrell Richards brought pressure, too, forcing Welch to scramble out of the pocket and rush a throw that resulted in the defense's lone interception of the day. Welch's off-balance toss landed in the hands of freshman safety Andre Cisco, who nearly returned it for a touchdown before being tackled inside the 5-yard line.

Freshman Caleb Okechukwu aided the defensive effort with two pass breakups and forced a fumble, which he also recovered. Junior Kenneth Ruff logged two sacks to go along with causing a fumble that was picked up by defensive end Kingsley Jonathan.

Babers said he wanted to see a physical session and stressed its importance for game preparedness. The third-year Orange coach said his players did just that, playing hard, but also playing cleanly and taking care of each other.

"I think that you've got to go hard, and you have to bang guys," Babers said. "It's a physical game, and you can't take the physicality away from it. If you don't prepare them for that, then you lack something on the back end of the season. It's been an extremely physical spring and a very, very physical camp, but now we'll start to tone it back a little bit and give these guys their legs back so they can be ready for the first game.

"That's the family part. That's the 'Ohana part. We're going to beat up on each other, but we're going to do it the right way and be clean, and it looks like everybody came out okay."

The Orange return to the practice field tomorrow morning and have four more practices before breaking camp and officially turning their attention to the season opener against Western Michigan on Friday, Aug. 31. The Orange's first home game is Saturday, Sept. 8 versus Wagner.

Season and individual game tickets for Orange football are on sale now online (Cuse.com/tickets), by phone (888-DOME-TIX) and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B). Season tickets start at $125 for Syracuse's six home games. Single-game tickets start at $20 for Wagner and $25 for the Connecticut game on Sept. 22. For Syracuse's four Atlantic Coast Conference games, tickets are available for as little as $35.

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