At the conclusion of Mississippi Valley State's spring game, head coach Karl Morgan didn't declare a winner.
He felt like the competition Saturday at Rice-Totten Stadium in Itta Bena between the offense and the defense was even in the controlled 65-play scrimmage.
"Both sides made some plays. We had a couple of big plays in the passing game with Paul Cox and Carl Davis," Morgan said. "Defensively, those are the kind of big plays that really hurt us last year, so we've got to correct that.
"I thought our running backs Ratheal Bateaste and Torian Nickelberry ran pretty well. Our new fullback Dytanyl Greer caught a touchdown pass."
The best thing about the scrimmage was the Delta Devils made it out injury free. Unfortunately, the offense took a big blow Thursday when starting quarterback Oliver Hughes suffered what is thought to be a torn ACL in his knee.
"That was tough luck because Oliver had really shown improvement this spring," Morgan said.
Hughes started nine games last season, when the Delta Devils went 0-10. If it is an ACL injury, Morgan said Hughes would be out at least six months.
Davis, who will be a sophomore, will go into fall practice as the starter at quarterback.
Valley will wrap up spring practice Monday, Morgan said, by watching the tape of the scrimmage and then hitting the practice field to make some corrections.
Morgan believes his squad has become a more physical team this spring.
"We've really gotten after one another pretty good and developed a tougher mentality," he said. "I have been impressed with the attitude of the guys."
The Valley coach likes what he has seen from his mid-term junior college transfers. Defensively, safety Lakendrick Carter out of Southwest Mississippi and linebacker Rico Mazique out of Holmes have caught Morgan's eye this spring.
"Carter has good size (6 feet, 215 pounds) and loves contact. He brings a load when he hits," Morgan said. "Rico gives us some much-needed depth at linebacker."
One transfer defensive player who didn't get a chance to show what he could do was highly touted lineman Ronald Byrd, who re-injured his knee on the first day of spring training. The former South Carolina player was rated a four-star prospect out of high school by Scout.com and was considered the 15th best defensive lineman prospect in the nation in 2008.
Valley kicks off the 2011 season Sept. 3 at home against Alabama State.
n Contact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
At the conclusion of Mississippi Valley State's spring game, head coach Karl Morgan didn't declare a winner.
He felt like the competition Saturday at Rice-Totten Stadium in Itta Bena between the offense and the defense was even in the controlled 65-play scrimmage.
"Both sides made some plays. We had a couple of big plays in the passing game with Paul Cox and Carl Davis," Morgan said. "Defensively, those are the kind of big plays that really hurt us last year, so we've got to correct that.
"I thought our running backs Ratheal Bateaste and Torian Nickelberry ran pretty well. Our new fullback Dytanyl Greer caught a touchdown pass."
The best thing about the scrimmage was the Delta Devils made it out injury free. Unfortunately, the offense took a big blow Thursday when starting quarterback Oliver Hughes suffered what is thought to be a torn ACL in his knee.
"That was tough luck because Oliver had really shown improvement this spring," Morgan said.
Hughes started nine games last season, when the Delta Devils went 0-10. If it is an ACL injury, Morgan said Hughes would be out at least six months.
Davis, who will be a sophomore, will go into fall practice as the starter at quarterback.
Valley will wrap up spring practice Monday, Morgan said, by watching the tape of the scrimmage and then hitting the practice field to make some corrections.
Morgan believes his squad has become a more physical team this spring.
"We've really gotten after one another pretty good and developed a tougher mentality," he said. "I have been impressed with the attitude of the guys."
The Valley coach likes what he has seen from his mid-term junior college transfers. Defensively, safety Lakendrick Carter out of Southwest Mississippi and linebacker Rico Mazique out of Holmes have caught Morgan's eye this spring.
"Carter has good size (6 feet, 215 pounds) and loves contact. He brings a load when he hits," Morgan said. "Rico gives us some much-needed depth at linebacker."
One transfer defensive player who didn't get a chance to show what he could do was highly touted lineman Ronald Byrd, who re-injured his knee on the first day of spring training. The former South Carolina player was rated a four-star prospect out of high school by Scout.com and was considered the 15th best defensive lineman prospect in the nation in 2008.
Valley kicks off the 2011 season Sept. 3 at home against Alabama State.
n Contact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
