When you look at the final score of Friday’s Army Spring game, the Black squad held on to beat the Gold team, 16-14.
But in such context, the score itself is secondary to the play of the players themselves that the coaches had their eyes on.
Defensively
Coming into the contest, several defensive players were on the shelf and have been for a significant part of spring practice. However, players like OLB Eric Ford and DL Javon Smith have stood out during the spring session.
Then you have Jack Bousom at defensive end. He was injured last season, but he’s got the length and skill set.
Too many starters and two deep players missed the spring game to give a fair evaluation. Three of the top four linebackers were out. Add to that, the top nose and dog were out. The number one safety played only one drive.
But the Gold unit held the Black offense out of the end zone until the fourth quarter and had a three and out with two minutes left in the game to give us a chance. The Black defense only allowed two touchdowns and stepped up big on the last drive to win the game.
Offensively
On the offensive side and coming into the game, the play at QB has been relatively even amongst the competitors (Dewayne Coleman, Ethan Washington, Cale Hellums, and Zach Mundell).
For today’s contest, Coleman and Hellums started for the Black & Gold respectively.
During the first series of the game, Hellums looked good on his initial pass attempt as he hit RB Carson Smith for 10-yards. Speaking of running backs, Junior Lloyd Benson showed burst of speed, along running with power, as did Sophomore Briggs Bartosh, who scored the first touchdown on the evening.
However, the Gold team's initial series ended with the group punting the ball away.
Up next was Coleman and his crew and it starting off with RB Hayden Reed picking up where he left off last season, with a long burst followed by a trick play where veteran slotback Noah Short took the pitch from Coleman and passed to WR Liam Fortner for 38 yards.
This offensive series ended with Dawson Jones hitting a field goal and putting the Black squad up 3-0.
Heading into the 2nd quarter, it was Ethan Washington and Zach Mundell, who got their chance under center. Washington for the Black team and Mundell for the Gold squad.
Clearly one day does not make a starter, but if that were the case, Washington turned some heads for sure.
He looked effective running the offense from a passing perspective, reading the defense ... whether making the pitch or running the ball himself.
Overall, he looked calm/poise. He actually made very solid deep pass to Short who just couldn’t hold onto it, or it would have been six.
QUARTERBACK COMPETITION CONTINUES
However, Dewayne Coleman, Ethan Washington, Cale Hellums had a great spring overall. Washington has a very high ceiling and we know that the coaching staff is incredibly excited about him and his growth.
The competition will continue into the fall, we feel that the Black Knights have three guys who can play and function well in Washington, Coleman and Hellums.
HONORARY CAPTAINS
The enjoyment of today’s contest was not only the game, but the three Honorary Captains (and NFLers), who actually added their football expertise on the sidelines during the game itself.
• Cole Christiansen, ‘20
• Elijah Riley ‘20
• Jon Rhattigan ’21
VISITING 2026 RECRUITS
Then you had at least 100 prospects/recruits on hand, and as you can imagine, many were excited to be on the historic grounds of the academy and take in a very special day.
Stay Tuned For GBK's Joe Iacono's Post Game Press Conference Recap
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