On a less than ideal spring day, the Northern Colorado football team defense had its way with the Bears’ offense and won the day during an intrasquad game Saturday afternoon at Nottingham Field.
The rainy, damp and raw afternoon posed a legitimate challenge for the offense through much of the 90-minute Blue and Gold Spring Showcase game marking the end of the team’s month-long spring practice season.
Wearing navy jerseys, the UNC defense made plenty of stops, snagged two interceptions and blocked a late field attempt in the 13-6 victory.
Playing on a 50-yard field for each drive, the squads received one point each for a touchdown or field goal, one point for stopping the offense and one point for advancing to the 50 when drives began at the 25.
The Bears’ defense also appeared to be its usual, high-spirited selves measured against their demeanor during spring practices. Even last year, during an 0-11 season, the Bears defense was outwardly emotional and reactive following a big play or moment.
Racing out to a 10-1 lead in the spring game helped the unit’s cause.
“We like to keep good energy because we believe defense is the heart of the team,” defensive back Noah Mangham said.
Mangham had four tackles, which tied for second most among defensive players. Dominic Butts, a sophom*ore defensive lineman from Severance, had five tackles as did redshirt sophom*ore defensive lineman Jax Brown and linebacker Keenan Guthrie.
Linebackers Sione Tuha and K.J. Smedley both had three tackles and interceptions off third-string quarterback Kaiden Box.
“Our violence and our tenacity going after the ball,” Mangham cited as defensive keys during the game. “Everyone was doing their job and with intent. Yeah, simple as that.”
The offense started to show consistency with about 38 minutes left in the game. Running back Caden Meis said Saturday’s game was the first time through the spring that the offense “didn’t come out hot” in their Saturday practices, which have been scrimmages in the stadium.
Meis, who had team-high carries (13) and yards (57) including a game-best 15-yarder, said he didn’t want to blame the slow start on the weather. Meis said he needs to look at tape of the game to see what was happening with the offense to contribute to its slow start.
“We’ve got to get ourselves motivated,” he said. “By not coming out hot, defense took advantage of that, but at the end, we picked it up.”
Bears’ head coach Ed Lamb said the early results of the game with the defense taking charge was a predictable scenario.
Quarterbacks Hank Gibbs and Peter Costelli, who are vying for the starting job, both wore red jerseys meaning no tackling by defenders. The defense, then, played two-hand touch on the quarterbacks, which didn’t allow them to pick up some extra yards on the run as they might even after an initial hit in a real game.
“The rain was another significant obstacle for the offense,” Lamb said. “We didn’t have much balance there early on. The passing game was, we weren’t even coming close to connecting. The defense really was ready to go.”
Box, a freshman from Longmont who enrolled in January, also threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to sophom*ore receiver Brayden Munroe, accounting for the biggest play of the day based on yardage. Munroe caught six balls for 97 yards.
Box was 4 of 10 passing for 88 yards with the touchdown and the two interceptions while rotating at QB with Gibbs and Costelli.
“Kaiden Box is very coachable, and he continues to learn,” offensive coordinator Justin Walterscheid said, noting Box should still be in high school. “I think he has a high ceiling. He’s been thrown in, and he’s handled them great. He has to have a great summer, but I think he’s put himself in position to do that right now.”
Gibbs and Costelli came into the game as QBs 1 and 1A though in no particular order, Lamb said earlier this month.
Gibbs started the game in that he played the first series and was 2 of 9 passing for 17 yards with a 9-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jace Villers. Gibbs also ran seven times for 14 yards. He was on the field when the offense broke through for its first point of the day on the TD throw to Villers.
Costelli was 9 of 19 with three touchdowns and he ran five times for nine yards while on the field for multiple touchdown drives.
The quarterbacks ended the spring game in the same situation with a healthy competition, Walterscheid said.
“I think it’s good to compete, and if you’ve got two guys that you feel like you can win with and you go into fall camp with a healthy competition, that’s a good problem to have for us,” he added. “I think we’re in a good place. I’d rather have two quarterbacks than none, and I think they both can play and win for us.”
Villers’ touchdown catch was set up by at least three runs — all from newcomer Larenz Lovelace, a running back who joined the team around the time of the start of spring ball in late March. Lovelace has made an impact in a short time, getting plenty of touches Saturday.
“Definitely put himself on the map,” Walterscheid said. “Got our attention quick and early in spring. He’s a guy we wanted to see, ‘Can he handle those touches?’ and he did a good job with that.”
