It was a sunny and clear and a bit warm for Liberty’s early afternoon Spring Game at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was the first chance the fan base has had a chance to watch the Flames under new head coach Jamey Chadwell.

“The main thing when you come out here is you want to stay healthy, for one, and we did that,” Chadwell said following the scrimmage. “Two, you want to see how guys show up in front of a crowd. We had some guys do some good things today. We still got a ways to go, but I think our team is bought in to what we’re trying to do with our program and the values we believe in. Still have a long way to go. This summer is going to be very important to our growth.”

There was a traditional football game played with four 15 minute quarters that featured a running clock in the second half. All of the action went towards one end zone headed towards the Liberty locker room and coaches offices as fans were allowed to gather in the end zone at the opposite side of the stadium.

The defense won the game, 66-50, in a unique scoring system. The offense was awarded points in the traditional way with six points for a touchdown, one point for an extra point, and three points for a field goal. The offense could also pick up two points for a 20-yard pass, 15-yard run, or 4th down conversion, and one point for every first down.

The defense got seven points for a touchdown, three points for an interception or fumble, three points for a three and out, three points for a fourth down stop, two points for a sack, and two points for a tackle for loss.

“I think we have a chance to be good defensively,” Chadwell said. “We’ve got some good players at some key spots. My worry is some depth. We don’t have a lot of depth at certain places. We’ve got to find a way there to continue to build that depth. We’ve got a chance to be good there if they can eliminate some of the inconsistency they play with.”

Johnathan Bennett was the first quarterback to take the field for the Flames during the spring game, and he led a very efficient drive that ended in a one yard touchdown run by Wake Forest transfer Quinton Cooley. Bennett would finish the game 5 of 8 passing for 39 yards and one interception. He also rushed twice for three yards.

Following the first offensive scoring drive, the defense would dominate the large portion of the scrimmage. It wasn’t until a few possessions into the scrimmage, the first one of the second quarter, that the offense would find success. It came when Kaidon Salter had his first opportunity to lead the first team offense, ending in a touchdown pass to Bentley Hanshaw.

Salter finished the afternoon completing 5 of 7 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 5 times for 8 yards. Of course, like most spring games, the quarterback was whistled dead when a defender was able to get a hand on him.

Trey Lowe, the transfer quarterback from Southern Miss, completed 4 of 8 passes during the scrimmage for 58 yards. One of his drives ended in a touchdown on a five yard run by James Jointer, Jr., a transfer from Arkansas.

Liberty’s fourth quarterback on the day, Nate Hampton, finished the game 2 of 6 passing for 6 yards. He also had 2 carries for a loss of three yards and lost a fumble.

The top pass catchers on the day were tight end Bentley Hanshaw and wide receivers Reese Smith and Kylen Austin. Hanshaw had four receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown while Smith also had four receptions, going for 21 yards. Austin, a redshirt-freshman who has made big strides this spring, finished the afternoon with three receptions for 61 yards.

Some other noteworthy pass catchers were Louisiana transfer Errol Rogers, who had one catch for one yard, tight end Austin Henderson and wide receiver Treon Sibley, who each finished with one reception for five yards, and CJ Daniels who had one catch for nine yards.

James Jointer led the running backs with nine rushing attempts. He ran for 12 yards and had a touchdown and also caught a pass for no gain. Quinton Cooley had six rushes for 10 yards and a score, and Vaughn Blue finished with six carries for 19 yards.

Brandon Bishop had arguably the highlight of the day, as he was able to intercept a Bennett pass and returned it for what would have been a touchdown. The end zone he was running towards was blocked off by Flames Fan Fest. Jerome Jolly and Rashaud Pernell each recorded sacks while A’Khori Jones and Khristian Zachary added tackles for a loss.

“It was good,” Chadwell said of the day. “Anytime your first time doing stuff, you wonder how guys are going to perform or handle themselves with the crowd. Normally, we don’t have many people at our practices. We’re at a good place. We know, from a coaching staff, we have to get better and we will. For us, it’s a long play. I’m not going to rush the process. I know we want to win and we want to win right away. We’re going to compete for a championship right away, but I want to make sure we don’t skip steps. We’ve laid a good foundation, now we’ve got to continue to pour it.”

At halftime, Coach Chadwell took to the microphone and announced the team’s most improved players at each of the position groups:
QB – Nate Hampton
RB – Vaughn Blue
WR – Treon Sibley
OL – Chase Mitchell
TE – Bentley Hanshaw
DL – Chris Boti
Joker – Donovan Dozier
LB – Joe Carter
S – Jaylon Jimmerson
Star – Elijah Auguste
CB – Dexter Ricks
Specialist – Max Morgan (also announced he was put on scholarship)

*all stats are unofficial