McNeese goes through 1st scrimmage

The much anticipated wait to see newly acquired quarterback Daniel Sam as well as redshirt freshman receiver Kent Shelby didn’t take long to have the hundreds in Cowboy Stadium in awe Saturday evening during the first scrimmage of fall football camp for the McNeese Cowboys.
On his first play from scrimmage, Sam launched a pass over the middle that connected with tight end R.J. Walters for a 51-yard gain. The next play, he put his feet to work and scampered in for the score from 24 yards.
Shelby, who had a redshirt season last year, made an acrobatic catch in coverage in the back corner of the end zone for an 18-yard score.
All-in-all, the Cowboys displayed a ton of talent, speed and physical ability during the 100-play, two-hour scrimmage.
“Offensively, I thought we made some really good plays,” McNeese head coach Matt Viator said in a news release. “We also made some plays we obviously have to correct. Defense did the same thing. I thought we showed a little speed. Probably a little more than I expected we’d have in the first scrimmage.”
Five quarterbacks combined to complete 21 of 47 passes for 396 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Tyler Bolfing started out the scrimmage running the first offense, and for the day, he led the unit with 138 yards on 5 of 8 passing and a score. Sam completed 4 of 8 for 81 yards and an interception on a pass that he attempted to throw away out of bounds but didn’t have enough on it as he was falling backwards.
“All the quarterbacks got a chance today,” Viator said in the release. “We’ll have to evaluate the film and go from there.”
Four of the quarterbacks — Bolfing, Sam, Grant Ashcraft and Will Briscoe — all took snaps with the first unit against the first defense. All four marched the team down for scores during their time with the first team.
Bolfing got things going on the scrimmage’s opening drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by Dylan Long. That came five plays after a 16-yard score was called back after a holding penalty.
Briscoe, who finished the day 3 for 10 for 53 yards, a touchdown and an interception, connected with Shelby on a third-and-long play for an 18-yard touchdown after he perfectly placed the ball into the corner of the end zone and Shelby used his height and ability to leap for the grab in coverage.
Sam, running with the ones, drove the team down into field goal range where freshman Alex Kjellston connected on his second 43-yard field goal of the scrimmage. And on a second-and-1 from the 11-yard line, Ashcraft shook a tackle in the backfield and sprinted in for the touchdown.
On the ground, freshman Ryan Ross led the way with 76 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown while running with the No. 3 unit. Sam added 67 yards on eight carries and a score, and junior transfer Derrick Milton, running with the first team and second team, carried the ball 11 times for 49 yards.
Fourteen players combined to rush for 267 yards on 57 carries.
Walters, Long, Ernest Celestie and Deltoine Scott each had two receptions to lead the scrimmage, while 13 other receivers made at least one catch.
Defensively, free safeties Aaron Sam and Damion Morgan, along with defensive end Cameron Smith, led the units with six tackles each. Smith added a sack and a tackle for a loss.
Tre Porter, Austin Pennington and Dominique Hill each recorded a sack, while Pennington added another tackle for a loss. D.J. Gatlin and Carlos Carroll each had interceptions, and Brian Hine forced and recovered a fumble.
Kjellston, a St. Louis Catholic High product who transferred from LSU this summer, connected on 4 of 5 of his field goals, hitting from 43, 23, 38 and 43 yards, with his only miss being a 49-yarder. He also hit all of his extra-point attempts.
The Cowboys will hold their second preseason scrimmage this Saturday at 9:45 a.m.