"A couple of times during the scrimmage, I looked down in the endzone and in the bleachers and it honestly felt like a home game," head coach Seth Smith said. "There were people everywhere. We also were able to have our recruits here and they were able to see what the vision is and what the campus, our administration and our fans are like. I don't think it could have been any better. We had great weather and great food and we had a lot of the Hall of Famers back. It really capped off what we thought was a great spring. I knew it was going to be good, but today exceeded my expectations."

 

Smith talked about what it was like merging the past with the present at the spring game.

 

"We were able to bring back guys like coach Hatten, Jimmy and coach Feaster. That was kind of the vision since the time we got here. We're not going to make any excuses. We realize that we've got to get a lot better, but COVID came along and blew a lot of our plans up. Thank God, now that we're back to some normalcy we're able to implement some things that we've wanted to do since day one. We're hoping to merge the past with the present and restore what those guys once had here."

 

The offense opened the game and was able to get on the board quickly. Samford transfer Lawson Pratt (Tuscaloosa, Ala.; American Christian Academy)threw a 25-yard fade that was caught and downed one yard shy of the endzone. A few plays later Chris Holifield Jr. (Mobile, Ala.; Leflore) took a reverse around the right side of the field and broke a tackle for a 5-yard touchdown. 

 

The defense made a big stand with 2:42 remaining in the first quarter of action when Elijah Jenkins (Picayune) rushed past the offensive line and sacked the quarterback. 

 

The offense was able to get into the endzone again with 1:10 left in the quarter. Kayvon Barnes (Pascagoula) took a handoff, cut to the right side and broke up the center of the field. He broke one tackle and lost another defender with a quick shimmy to finish off a 39-yard touchdown run. 

 

The defense forced and recovered a fumble just a few minutes into the second quarter.

 

Holifield struck again with one minute left in the third quarter, catching a touch pass and taking it for a touchdown.

 

The Wildcat defense made another good play by forcing and recovering another fumble. 

 

One of the biggest plays of the third quarter came courtesy of Southwestern Oklahoma State transfer Emmanuel Armstrong (New Orleans, La.; McDonough 35). The quarterback found Jordan Foushee (Kiln; Hancock) over the middle for a 50-yard gain. The defense held strong on the drive, tipping a pass at the line of scrimmage that found the hands of Davontez Lynn (Farmhaven; Velma Jackson) for an interception.

 

A little while later Armstrong connected with Kevin Wilcox (Carriere; Pearl River Central) on a screen. The tight end had blockers in front of him and scampered down the field for a 27-yard touchdown.

Smith talked about the play of his offense and defense at the conclusion of the day. 

 

"I thought there was a great balance. The spring is all about development," Smith said. "We realize we have to get better offensively so we've worked hard to develop on that side of the ball, but we also have a lot of older guys on defense. We were able to score a few times on offense and the defense was able to get a few stops and some turnovers. There was a lot of back-and-forth football. More than anything, the kids played really hard and had a lot of fun. I don't think it could have turned out better."