NDSU Football Reaches Halfway Point of Spring Practice With Spirited Scrimmage

FARGO, N.D.--Linebacker Grant Olson had a pick six and running back Matt Jones turned some heads during North Dakota State football's controlled 60-play scrimmage played on a blustery Saturday, April 7, on Dacotah Field.

NDSU football moved into the second half of spring practice with an uptempo scrimmage that featured a little bit of everything.

On the second play of the scrimmage, Olson, a 6-foot, 226-pound junior from Plymouth, Minnesota (Wayzata H.S.), stepped in front of the intended receiver in the left flat and raced 40 yards into the end zone with the early score.

Jones, a 5-foot-9, 199-pound redshirt freshman from Scottsdale, Ariz. (Horizon H.S.), displayed his talents. He rushed 11 times for 102 yards and caught three passes for 31 yards.

Jones took one hand-off around the right side and broke several tackles on the way to a 28-yard TD run. He had four rushes for 10-plus yards.

The defense held the upperhand early and kept the pressure on led by defensive end Kyle Emmanuel, who recorded two of the five sacks. Defensive lineman Leevon Perry and Brian Schaetz, and defensive end Mike Hardie also added a sack.

Redshirt freshman cornerback Jordan Champion was raising havoc, forcing a fumble to stop one drive inside the 20 and made several impressive stops. Sophomore linebacker DeShawn Dinwiddie was another defensive player flying round and recorded a pass breakup. Junior cornerback Brendin Pierre broke up one pass in the right corner of the end zone.

The offense did put up 13 first downs despite the two turnovers as all four quarterbacks saw action, completing 12 of 18 passes for 138 yards to six different receivers. Sophomore Trevor Gebhart caught four passes for 54 yards including a 28-yard reception.

Redshirt freshman kicker Ben LeCompte turned in a solid performance on four kickoffs and three punts. LeCompte punted for an average of 46.5 yards. Pressure by redshirt freshman Andrew Bonnet forced one punt to deflect off a blocker.