Defensive plays stood out in the UTPB Orange-Black spring football game Saturday at Falcon Field.
After holding the Black offense to a field goal in the first half, the Orange defense did its best to shut things down and that ultimately helped them come away with a 7-3 win.
A 12-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Graham to Jaylon Banks in the last minute of the fourth quarter was all the scoring the Orange side needed.
“Our defense is really good,” UTPB coach Justin Carrigan said. “Spring ball, usually your defense is ahead of your offense.”
Suddin Sapien was joined by four new quarterbacks on the team in Graham, Jordan Barton, Gabe Herrera and Qua Gray.
Each signal caller had significant playing time to showcase their abilities in the Falcons’ offense, with Herrera showing the most mobility when the pocket broke down.
Through the team’s spring practices, Carrigan has been impressed with what he has seen from each quarterback.
“Each guy is going to have their own day, or a couple days here and there,” he said. “Really right now, we’re just trying to see which guy can play it level and not get too high, not get too low.”
Herrera was one of the more consistent, moving the ball down field, completing seven passes in the first half for 46 yards on the Back team.
Throughout the contest, both defenses made stands when the offenses were starting to get into a groove.
Right before the halftime break, Jalon Rocquemore intercepted a pass with 11.9 seconds left to keep the momentum swinging in favor of the Orange team.
The contest also had strong plays from veteran returners Marcus Molina, Kobe Robinson and MJ Link on the offensive side of the ball.
Molina and Robinson used their speed to create big plays on the Black team, with Molina breaking away for a 39-yard run in the first half.
Carrigan credited associate head coach/offensive coordinator Rob Messinger for the work he did to create space for his speedy players.
“He looked like Andy Reid, Eric Bieniemy,” Carrigan said. “I think he just broke down a whole bunch of Chiefs film last night, but did a great job and utilized those guys.
“Marcus and Kobe both had big days for the Black team, we count on them as explosive playmakers.”
Link showed how important his experience in the college game will be heading into the fall season.
With eight minutes remaingin in the third quarter, he readjusted to get behind a defensive back and haul in a back-shoulder pass from Barton.
The receiver has been working on getting on the same page with his new quarterbacks, taking time to learn each player’s strengths under center.
Seeing the defensive unit look strong through the spring is an encouraging sign for Link.
“We go against the best defense in the country, it’s going to make us the best offense in the country,” Link said. “So we’re going to go against them and compete every day, so we all can get better.”
The Falcons released their schedule for the 2022 campaign Friday, which features six home games.
UTPB will start the season against Southwest Baptist on Sept. 3 at Ratliff Stadium.
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