At Jesuit
Score: Jesuit 34, Dixie Hollins 21
Spring game-breakers: The Rebels (220 total yards) made the formal debut of new Tigers coach Matt Thompson more interesting than expected, exploiting two Jesuit special teams breakdowns and a vanilla defensive scheme. In the first quarter, Cory Jones returned a blocked punt 30 yards for a touchdown, tying the score at 7-all. In the third, a mishandled punt was picked up by Jacque Hill at the Jesuit 6, setting up Tyrie Adams’ 6-yard scoring slant to Marcus Smith to cut Dixie’s deficit to 28-21. … Adams (8-for-21, 126 yards, two INTs) also had a 62-yard touchdown pass to Hill. … Nick Perillo, a 5-foot-6, 144-pound Jesuit rising sophomore, had touchdown catches of 27 and 31 yards, and a 48-yard kick return. … Bent on ball control, Jesuit churned out 213 rushing yards, with 5-6, 178-pound rising senior Ryan Black collecting 80 on 12 carries up the gut. … Jesuit PK Rhett Waldron had field goals of 22 and 35 yards, and put six of his seven kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.
Did you know? The Tigers used three quarterbacks. Six-foot-2 rising senior Vincent Testaverde (5-for-10, 69 yards, one rushing TD) was followed by 6-2 rising junior Trent Wessel (4-for-4, 99 yards, one TD; 52 rushing yards) who was spelled by 6-5 rising junior Wesley Eveld (1-for-5, 31 yards, one TD). … Dixie Hollins coach Shannon Brooks, who suited up only 29 players, held out eight injured Rebels for precautionary reasons. Seven are starters, he added. … Three Jesuit scoring drives spanned 11 or more plays.
Audible 1:“Our focus this entire spring has been having our brothers’ backs, working together as a family. I thought we competed well together tonight.” — Brooks
Audible 2:“We were completely base. I mean, we did run a couple of stunts but we were completely base. … What happened, happened. I knew that was going to happen. We’re young.” — Thompson on his close-to-the-vest defensive look