Saluki Football spends Friday night in Marion for its second scrimmage of spring ball

MARION, Ill. — After visiting Du Quoin last week, Saluki Football trekked east to Marion High School on Friday night for its second scrimmage of spring ball and another chance to mingle with fans.

The Salukis ran approximately 70 live plays, and for much of the night, the defense held the upper hand. Head coach Nick Hill said he was satisfied with the give-and-take and felt there was a good tempo throughout practice.

“On both offense and defense, we tried to get a look at a lot of different personnel groupings,” Hill said. “I thought the defense started the scrimmage really well and the tackling was better in this scrimmage than it was last week.”

For the second week in a row, safety Vinny Pierre Jr. forced a fumble, this one coming on just the third play of the scrimmage, when he knocked the ball out of the hands of running back Ed Robinson.

“That's just what you want to see from a senior that's trying to take his game to the next level,” Hill said. “Vinny’s got a little bit of Jeremy (Chinn) in him. He pressures well, he tackles well, he creates turnovers, and he's an Iron Man. You know, he took so many reps for us last year.”

Fellow safety Clayton Lakatos came up with the recovery of the forced fumble. The redshirt freshman has an interception and two fumble recoveries in two scrimmages.

“This is Clayton’s first spring, and he keeps showing up,” Hill noted. “Historically, the guys that consistently keep showing up in the spring are going to be guys that show up in the fall.”

Southern’s defense did not allow a touchdown on the first seven drives of the scrimmage. Senior linebacker Andrew Behm, one of the team’s top returning tacklers, is pleased with the development of the unit this spring, especially some of the younger linebackers who are getting valuable experience — guys like Miles Wash, David Obadein, Charles Whelpley and Alex Broshears. Whelpley had an interception off a pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage by Behm.

“It’s really fun to see the progress they’ve made and the work that they've done so far,” said Behm, who had four tackles on the night. “It just takes time and getting the reps, which thankfully, we have the time to do during spring ball.”

Among the four quarterbacks who played in the scrimmage, ET Harris had the most success, taking off on a couple of long runs, and throwing a 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Traivon Dyson.

One of the bright spots for the offense was the power running game of Lem Wash, who not only delivered a pair of touchdown runs, but dished out punishment with his downhill running style.

“Lem’s got a chance to be a special player and a difference-maker on our team,” Hill said. “He can line up in so many different formations and that can cause the defense problems.”

Wash, a former quarterback, is part of a loaded backfield that also features established veterans Robinson and Chandler Chapman.

“Everybody brings something different to the table and we all just want to see each other succeed and get better,” Wash said. “Once I found out that my niche was the power game, I’ve really tried to hone in and focus on that.”

As he did last week, Hill interrupted practice for 10 minutes to invite kids onto the field for drills with the players, and everyone stuck around for autographs afterward, making for a memorable community event.

‘You just gotta be thankful that we could come over to Marion, get to play the game that we all love, and with people that you enjoy being around,” Hill said. “Coach (Kerry) Martin and Coach (Jason) Dunning have been awesome to us. This facility is beautiful. It’s better than some of the colleges out there. It's a great place for us to come and play on a Friday night.”

The Salukis have three more spring practices remaining, including next Friday's Spring Game at Saluki Stadium that starts at 6 p.m.