Football Scrimmage Report

The Washington State University football team had an about-face for this week's scrimmage as it was the Wazzu defense which enjoyed most of the highlights in the season's second spring scrimmage held at Martin Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The defense opened the day by forcing four straight three-and-outs and finished the afternoon with four sacks, a forced fumble, a blocked field goal and a pair of interceptions. Quarterback Jeff Tuel highlighted the offense, completing nine of his 14 pass attempts for 113 yards including a 35-yard touchdown pass to Marquess Wilson down the left sideline to cap a nine-play, 70-yard drive. Running backs Logwone Mitz and Leon Brooks added touchdown runs for the Wazzu offense later in the day.

The Cougar defense regrouped after allowing the touchdown pass, forcing turnovers on the next three series following the Wilson score. Defensive back Anthony Martinez forced a fumble with a bit hit on receiver Isiah Myers and linebacker Darren Markle made the recovery for the first turnover of the afternoon. The next series saw defensive back Aire Justin make a diving interception in the back of the end zone before linebacker Tyrone Duckett picked off a David Gilbertson pass on the ensuing series to cap the defensive performance. Linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis also later blocked a field goal attempt.

"I thought our defense played hard, played fast, and really set the tone for the day by getting stops on the first four series," commented Wazzu head football coach Paul Wulff. "Jeff then threw a great ball to Marquess for the score but the defense regrouped and came back and made more plays."

Brooks finished the day with 10 carries for 21 yards and touchdown while Mitz had seven carries and a score. Quarterback Connor Halliday completed six of seven passes for 49 yards while Wilson finished with pair of catches for 58 yards and touchdown. Myers finished with five catches for 42 yards.

The Cougars will wrap up their final week of spring drills with practices at Rogers Field at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday before closing out the spring with a scrimmage at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane, Wash. next Saturday, Apr. 16. Admission to the game will be free. The final scrimmage will begin at 3 p.m. and will be televised on SWX and broadcasted on KXLY Radio.

NOTES:

Prior to the scrimmage, WSU will be hosting a Fan Fest Tailgate beginning at 1 p.m. The Fan Fest includes an autograph session with Cougar players, inflatable games for kids, food vendors and a beer garden.

Washington State University sports information contributed to this report.

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