The Buccaneer football team concluded its preseason with the Blue and Gold scrimmage, but had to do without the services of a number of key players, who witnessed the game in street clothes.
In the game itself the Blue squad defeated the Gold 17-12 on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Center, holding off a late comeback by the Gold team led by former ETSU quarterback and current assistant coach Jamey Chadwell.
“We had more of our team standing over there than we did out of the field,” said head coach Paul Hamilton of the 14-16 players standing on the sidelines.
“I tried to look at some things today and see where we stood in some phases of our offense and defense. I wasn’t concerned about the score from the beginning.”
The Bucs were playing without the services of starting wide receiver and preseason All-Southern Conference selection Cecil Moore, along with several other starters including wide receiver Charvin Clark, offensive lineman Josh Kerr and tight end Nick Hendrickson, all of whom the Bucs will need when they play their season opener against the University of Pittsburgh.
“If there was any question about someone today I didn’t play them,” Hamilton said. “It’s not easy when we don’t have Cecil Moore, Charvin Clark, Josh Kerr, a lot of those guys out there that we need … the list just goes on.”
The Bucs did receive some strong performances throughout the game, particularly at the quarterback position from senior Matt Wilhjelm and junior Jatavis Sanders.
On the Blue squad’s second possession, Wilhjelm, who will be the Bucs’ starting quarterback, completed passes to tight end Robby Hardt and wide receiver Tim Turner, setting up Corey Carter’s three-yard touchdown run, which put the Blue up 7-0 after the extra point.
Wilhjelm, who completed 12 of 18 passes for 124 yards, is looking forward to his upcoming start against Pittsburgh and is relieved to not have the starting quarterback question hanging over his shoulder anymore.
“I’m excited,” Wilhjelm said. “It hasn’t hit me yet … I’m a little nervous, but we’ve had some tough scrimmages and I’m comfortable being in there and being the man.”
Wilhjelm also looks forward to having Moore and Clark back at receivers and believes they can correct some of the mistakes they made in the scrimmage.
“It’s hard, Tim Turner was the only (regular) wide receiver out there,” he said. “The routes were not as crisp, but our execution was pretty good.”
The former Science Hill standout will also have the full support of his coach, as Hamilton believes Wilhjelm is the most qualified to lead the team on to the field for the season opener.
“Matt Wilhjelm is our quarterback,” he said. “He has earned the position from spring practice on.
“When game time comes he’s the most prepared, the most consistent and he’s going to have to learn, but he’s going to do a lot of good things.”
Sanders also had a good day for the Blue squad completing eight of 10 passes for 126 yards including a 59-yard touchdown pass to Turner, making the score 14-0.
“Jatavis is getting better,” Hamilton said. “He’s getting more of a feel for our offense.”
Hamilton has also been impressed with the strength of Sanders’ arm, as indicated by his deep touchdown pass to Turner.
“He’s got a strong arm,” he said. “He’s going to continue to learn what to do with it.”
The Blue squad made it 17-0 on a 43-yard field goal by kicker Wes Sands at intermission, but the Gold squad would make a comeback in the second half.
The rally began off an 80-yard touchdown pass by Chadwell to wide receiver Michael Mabe with 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Hamilton was also impressed with his assistant coach, who graduated from ETSU in 2000 and played in 10 games at quarterback as a junior for the Bucs.
“The guy is really awesome.” Hamilton said. “I was afraid he might steal the headlines. He showed his competitiveness throwing that deep ball.”
The Gold then added another touchdown on an 11-yard run by running back LaShawn Taylor, but did not complete the two-point conversion making the score 17-12, which would be the final.
Also putting up some big numbers for the Bucs were Turner, who had 11 receptions for 154 yards, and Made, who had two receptions for 118 yards.
With the preseason now out of the way, Hamilton and his team will focus on the difficult task that lies ahead when they travel to Pittsburgh.
“We have a game plan in tact, we have to sit down and see if we need to cut it down or add something,” Hamilton said.
“We have to get our legs underneath us (and) we have to get completely healthy and go up and do the things it takes to give us a chance to win this football game and be a competitive team.”
The Bucs and the University of Pittsburgh will be playing the first official game at the brand-new Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Bucs first home game will be Sept. 8 when they face Gardner-Webb at the Memorial Center with the kickoff set for 6 p.m.

Author