A bright, sunny day set the stage for a happy second San Jose State spring football scrimmage inside CEFCU Stadium.
The offense was happy with four touchdowns and a field goal. The defense was happy stopping nine drives and coming up with four quarterback sacks and two interceptions. The special teams were happy, too, with a 44-yard field goal and effective punting.
Offensive right tackle Deano Motes had to be the happiest person on the CEFCU Stadium field when it was all over. Besides being part of the offensive line group that paved the way for 376 yards of total offense on 76 plays, Motes' line to Laike Reader, his girl friend, after the scrimmage asking her to marrying him was the best of the day since she accepted his marriage proposal.
"Today, I made the choice to propose to my girl friend after practice, made her my fiancée. It's been a heckuva a day, a good scrimmage and an even better proposal. I'm glad I was able to do it in front of everybody, said Motes, a starter in eight games last season.
"There were all kinds of plays made today, but I would say the biggest play was made by Deano Motes when he proposed to his girlfriend at the end of the scrimmage. That was a pretty special moment for everybody," said San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan.
"The team's reaction, I think, is an indication of how our brotherhood continues to grow and how the chemistry with these guys gets stronger every day."
Compared to the first scrimmage a week ago, the offense turned the table from three passing touchdowns and one rushing score to three runs into the end zone and a 56-yard pass play when an alert Tre Walker caught a deflected Josh Love pass off of the closest defender to him and ran the rest of the way for six points.
Love was on target, especially in the first half of the scrimmage, and finished 9-of-16 with an interception for 128 yards and a touchdown. Chance LaChapelle, who scored the final touchdown on a 9-yard run, was the only one of the three quarterbacks that did not throw an interception. He completed his first nine passes and finished 13-of-17 for 130 yards.
Veteran running backs Tyler Nevens and DeJon Packer combined for 12 carries for 82 yards. Nevens had the longest run from scrimmage, a 26-yard gain the second half.
Sophomores Michael Harris, III, and Brendan Manigo accounted for the other two scores by the offense on runs of 5 and 3 yards.
"In terms of the football part, when teams start to get good, they trade punches in live situations. That's what we had today. The offense made some plays. The defense made some big stops with some big hits. The fourth down stop by the defense (at the goal line) was big time," added Brennan.
"I thought our punter (Alex Galland) hit the ball well and our long snapper (Will Butler) did his job. There is a lot of good progress made by the team."
Defensive backs Nehemiah Shelton and freshman Stan Livingstone each had an interception. Livingstone, linebacker Hadari Darden, cornerback Brandon Ezell and lineman Demanuel Talauati each had a quarterback sack. For Talauati, he has a quarterback sack in each of the two scrimmages.
The Spartans resume spring practice Tuesday, March 26, and practice again on March 28 prior to the University's annual Spring Break, April 1-5.
| Scrimmage scoring |
| Michael Harris, III, 5-yard run (Matt Mercurio kick) |
| Brendan Manigo, 3-yard run (Chris Wood kick) |
| Tre Walker, 56-yard pass from Josh Love (Sox Lee kick) |
| Matt Mercurio, 44-yard field goal |
| Chance LaChapelle, 9-yard run (Chris Wood kick) |
| Rushing |
38 attempts, 120 yards, 3 TDs |
| Tyler Nevens, 6-49 |
Brendan Manigo, 2-6, 1 TD |
| DeJon Packer, 6-33 |
Michael Harris, III, 5-4, 1 TD |
| Nick Nash, 3-12 |
Chance LaChapelle, 8-(-2), 1 TD |
| Isac Velasquez, 1-12 |
Josh Love, 2-(-5) |
| Lorenzo Burkes, 3-11 |
|
| Passing (22-38-2-258 yds., 1 TD) |
| Josh Love, 9-16-1-128 yds., 1 TD |
| Chance LaChapelle, 13-17-0-130 yds., 0 TDs |
| Nick Nash, 0-5-1-0 yds., 0 TDs |
| Receiving |
22 receptions, 258 yds., 1 TD |
| Steven Houston, 5-47 |
Tre Walker, 1-56TD |
| Jermaine Braddock, 4-44 |
Antwaun Ayers, 1-19; |
| Derrick Deese, Jr., 3-43 |
Jackson Burrill, 1-12 |
| Brett Foley, 3-29 |
Tyler Nevens, 1-1 |
| Austin Liles, 2-13 |
Michael Harris, III 1-(-6) |
| Interceptions |
| Nehemiah Shelton, Stan Livingstone, 1, each. |
| Quarterback sacks |
|
| Demanuel Talauati - 1 |
Stan Livingstone - 1 |
| Brandon Ezell - 1 |
Hadari Darden - 1 |
| Field goals |
| Matt Mercurio, 44 – good. |
| Punting |
| Alex Galland, 6-42.8 avg. |
