KTUL.com - Tulsa's Channel 8 - News, Weather & SportsBlakenship Happy With Second Scrimmage

Tulsa, Oklahoma –– Tulsa held its second scrimmage of the spring on Saturday morning at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The Golden Hurricane went through a 114-play scrimmage, including 52 plays with the No.1 units and 62 plays with the No. 2 unit.

"I was encouraged in a lot of ways today. I thought offensively we were explosive. We definitely have big play ability. We ran the football well," said Head Coach Bill Blankenship. "I liked what I see from Trey Watts and Willie Carter running the football. We're very explosive with Jordan James and Damaris Johnson.
 
"Defensively, I think we'll find that they were very solid. I think we gave up too much on the ground. We want to be firmer there. The best thing our defense did was not give up a lot of big plays. We kept most of it in front, stopped the offense and got off the field several times. I think there's a lot to be positive about on both sides of the ball," added Blankenship.
 
"We got a lot of good things on both sides of the ball to look at. I'm sure when we go and watch the film, we'll have plenty to correct on both sides. I felt good about the whole day," said Blankenship.
 
The Tulsa defense held the offense on the first six series. On two of those series, junior quarterback Shavodrick Beaver led the offense on two drives covering 40 and 48 yards, but could not get in the end zone. In those two drives, Beaver completed 5-of-9 passes for 34 yards.
 
The Hurricane than ran two goal-line situations from the four-yard line to break up the scrimmage. Alex Singleton scored on a one-yard run and Kevin Fitzpatrick kicked a 26-yard field goal.
 
Junior quarterback G.J. Kinne, along with defensive end Cory Dorris and offensive linemen Clint Anderson and Kody Cooke, missed the fist six series of the scrimmage due to their participation in the American Heart Association Heart Walk on Saturday morning.
 
Kinne entered the scrimmage on the seventh series and guided the offense on an 8-play 70-yard drive, while connecting with Damaris Johnson on a 38-yard touchdown strike down the left sideline. On his third series, Kinne connected on the first play with Jordan James for a 70-yard touchdown.
 
Kinne would guide the Hurricane offense on five more series leading to a 53-yard Fitzpatrick field goal and an eight-yard TD pass to Damaris Johnson.
 
The Tulsa defense was very active during the 90-minute scrimmage as lineman Darrell Zellars and Tyrunn Walker made numerous plays. Alan Dock took an interception off walk-on quarterback Malachia Blankenship 70 yards for a touchdown. Junior Daeshon Bufford returned a fumble eight yards in for a score that was caused on a Durrell Finch sack of quarterback Kalen Henderson.

For the game, the Tulsa offense gained 251 yards through the air and 184 yards rushing. Kinne completed 9-of-19 passes for 153 yards and three TDs, while Trey Watts rushed for a game-high 88 yards on 13 carries. Jordan James had two receptions for 70 yards and one TD, while Damaris Johnson caught four passes for 59 yards and two TDs.
 
The Annual Tulsa Spring Game is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Friday, April 15th at H.A. Chapman Stadium. There is no admission charge for the spring game. FanFest with a live band and inflatable games will begin at 6 pm.
 
Tulsa football season tickets are on sale now. Fans can go online at www.tulsahurricane.com <http://www.tulsahurricane.com> , call 918-631-GoTU (4688) or stop by the Donald W. Reynolds Center Athletic Ticket Office on the TU campus, Mon-Fri., 8:30-5 pm. The Tulsa home schedule includes Oklahoma State, North Texas, SMU, Houston, Marshall and UAB.
 
Scrimmage Statistics
Top Rushers
Trey Watts, 13-88
Alex Singleton, 12-45
Tony Peoples, 5-28
Willie Carter, 3-16
Ja'Terian Douglas, 8-15
Team Total – 50 rushes for 184 yards, 1 TD
 
Top Passers
G.J. Kinne, 9-of-19, 153 yards, 3 TDs
Shavodrick Beaver, 8-of-17, 71 yards
Stephen Rouse, 1-of-1, 21 yards
Malachia Blankenship, 1-of-3, 1 INT
Kalen Henderson, 0-of-7
Team Total – 19-of-47, 251 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
 
Top Receivers
Jordan James, 1-70-1 TD
Damaris Johnson, 4-59-2 TD
Bryan Burnham, 2-30
Clay Sears, 2-27
Ricky Johnson, 2-18
Genesis Cole, 2-18
Brett Davis, 2-14
Willie Carter, 1-8
Samuel Crabtree, 2-7
Team Total – 19-251-3 TDs