STATESBORO -- The Georgia Southern football team capped the second week of spring practice with an approximate 60-play scrimmage Saturday morning at Paulson Stadium.
Dressed in full pads, the Eagles went about 50 plays without going to the ground before going completely live for the final 10.
Returning running backs Matt Breida and LA Ramsby were held entirely out of the scrimmage portions of practice so the coaching staff could evaluate some of the younger backs.
"Both Matt and LA have shown what they can do, and they aren't going to get a whole lot of live repetitions this spring," said Georgia Southern coach Willie Fritz. "There's some young backs that we need to get an evaluation on. We wanted to get a better look at those guys."
Sophomore Demarcus Godfrey and redshirt freshmen Thomas Banks and Antonio Williams got a bulk of the carries from the running back position. When the Eagles were not fully tackling to the ground, Godfrey and Williams each appeared to break out for touchdown runs.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Monteo Garrett took all reps during the fully-live portion of the scrimmage and feels getting full contact action will aid his development.
"The game is much faster and you have bigger and faster guys out there on the defense I have to go against," said Garrett. "I've learned so much from Kevin Ellison and Favian Upshaw in previous practices."
Ellison threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Longoria for one of the highlights on the day for the offense. Junior safety Zander Yost picked off a pass for the defense, and junior defensive lineman Jamal Johnson appeared to have a sack or two before the teams went fully live. Junior defensive lineman Tre Griffin also appeared to have a pair of sacks.
Senior linebacker Patrick Flowe made three tackles, and senior defensive lineman Jed Nwankwoh posted two tackles and sack during the live portion of the scrimmage. Redshirt freshman defensive end Isaiah Seise added two stops.
"We've got a lot of guys returning on the defense so we kind of know what we're doing and that probably gives us a little advantage," said senior safety Matt Dobson. "I thought we flew around and made some plays and had a good time out here today."
Monday's practice is scheduled for 4 p.m. on the banks of Beautiful Eagle Creek.
Remaining Spring Practice Schedule
Monday, April 6 - 4 p.m. - Eagle Creek
Wednesday, April 8
Friday, April 10
Saturday, April 11
Monday, April 13
Wednesday, April 15
Friday, April 17
Saturday, April 18 – Spring Game
