It was a sunny and clear but chilly late Saturday morning in Lynchburg, Virginia as the Liberty Flames football team held their Annual Spring Game. With over 200 recruits and their families in attendance and a smattering of fans, they got a treat from the Liberty defense which dominated on the day.
“I thought our play offensively was atrocious pretty much, for most of the day,” said head coach Hugh Freeze. “I think our defense has a chance to be pretty good. We created some scoring opportunities, but got behind the chains a lot and of course have a lot of kids out right now too. We held a lot of them out.”
The offense, led by four different quarterbacks on the day, had 17 drives, and the defense held them to just four red zone trips and scoring opportunities. The offense converted those trips into three touchdowns and a field goal try. Liberty’s defense frequently pushed the offense behind the chains and forced them off the field.
The defense finished the day with seven sacks and an interception. Defensive end Durrell Johnson paced the unit with three sacks, while Stephen Sings, Khristian Zachary, Marquise Brunson, and Micah Glaize all recorded a sack. JUCO transfer linebacker Mike Smith, Jr. was able to record an interception.
“I think we’re going to be pretty good on defense,” said Freeze. “I think our front is a talented front and we’re deep. I love what Josh (Aldridge) and Jack (Curtis) are doing together, some of the new stuff that they’re doing that I think is going to benefit us from the back end. I think we got better at corner this spring. I think we’re more competitive on balls there and doing a few other things to give them a little more help and relieve some pressure off them at times.”
All the attention was on the quarterbacks as Liberty looks to find the replacement for Malik Willis who was the team’s starter for the past two years. Utah transfer Charlie Brewer was the first quarterback onto the field for Saturday’s Spring Game, followed by Kaidon Salter, Johnathan Bennett, and Nate Hampton. They would rotate on and off the field throughout the day after nearly every series.
Salter finished the morning with the most drives, getting six of the 17 drives. He completed four of eight passes for 35 yards while finishing with the second most rushing yards on the team on the day, as he carried the ball six times for 31 yards. He could have finished the day with more rushing yards, but with the quarterbacks wearing black no-contact jerseys, they were ruled down when a defender is able to touch them.
Brewer captained the Flames’ for four drives. He finished the game by completing 7 of 10 passes for 41 yards with one interception while rushing five times for a loss of 10 yards.
Like Brewer, Hampton also got four drives. He completed 4 of 7 passes for nine yards and one touchdown. His touchdown pass was a one yard out to Jaivian Lofton. Hampton rushed four times for a loss of five yards.
Bennett was Liberty’s quarterback on three of the 17 drives Saturday morning. He completed 2 of 7 passes for 26 yards and a touchdown while carrying the ball just one time for two yards. His touchdown pass, a 20 yard connection to Caleb Snead, was the first for the Flames on the day.
“That thing’s going to go into game week,” Freeze said when asked about the quarterback competition. “I just think it will go into game week. I think all four have had good days and all four have had bad days. I do think I’m cautiously optimistic. I think we will have several ready that can perform.”
Freeze, who at the beginning of the spring stated he hoped to narrow the competition down to two, said he was not ready to narrow the battle down to fewer than the four.
“No, I’m not ready,” he explained. “(QB Coach) Kent (Austin) and I will meet. We will watch all of film cut ups next Tuesday and Wednesday and have the total grades and all of that. I think coming into fall camp, we’re probably still unclear. I kinda have in my mind three, but not sure a fourth one couldn’t do it too.”
With TJ Green and Shedro Louis not getting any live reps on Saturday as they nurse injuries, Hawaii transfer running back Dae Dae Hunter got the bulk of the workload in the backfield. He led the team with 12 carries for 86 yards while punching one in the end zone. Hunter also hauled in three receptions for zero yards. Other notable running backs were Malik Caper and Troy Henderson. Each rushed the ball four times for two yards. Henderson added one reception for eight yards.
“I do think we’re going to be able to run the ball some,” Freeze said. “I think Dae Dae is going to improve us in the running game. Of course we had TJ and Shedro both hurt, obviously I believe in those also.”
Campbell transfer receiver Caleb Snead hauled in two of his three targets for 34 yards, including the 20 yard touchdown reception from Bennett. Noah Frith hauled in three of his five targets for 29 yards. Brody Brumm had one catch for 15 yards, and Kylen Austin caught two of three targets for 12 yards.
“I think you win with defense and good quarterback play,” stated Freeze. “I’ve said that every year here. We’ve gotten better and better on defense and been pretty decent at quarterback from Buckshot through Malik. I think our defense is going to be the strong suit.”
*all stats are unofficial
