PANAMA CITY BEACH — Rutherford and Bozeman concluded their spring seasons with a jamboree on Thursday night at Gavlak Stadium that mixed varsity starters, backups, junior varsity, and even a short middle school scrimmage.
The Rams led 20-14 at the end of the four quarters that included high school players, though as always in the spring, the score isn’t as important as the signs of progress and development that the teams can take toward the next chapter of the offseason in summer workouts.
With that said, here are five noteworthy observations from Thursday’s action.
1. Rutherford may have its quarterback
The Rams went into the spring needing to replace last year’s graduated starter Dillyn Richardson, and two prime candidates were identified early in rising juniors Daylyn Davis and Keandre Williams, neither of whom had ever attempted a varsity pass.
With an ankle injury preventing Williams from taking any snaps on Thursday, it was Davis who got the start and most of the first team reps, leading the Rams to touchdowns on two of his three drives.
Davis flashed his speed on the opening series with a 25-yard touchdown run on a third-and-17 scramble, and later showcased the arm with a 25-yard touchdown strike to Tasavion Spencer just before halftime.
On the flip side, Davis also displayed a tendency to hold the ball a bit too long, which resulted in a drive-killing sack in Bozeman territory on the second series, though Rams coach Loren Tillman said that’s something Davis will learn from and correct with more experience.
“He is what we thought we would get with him,” he said. “He kind of gives us that dual threat. He still has a lot of work to do at quarterback, but I thought he settled in and managed the game well. He didn’t panic when things went wrong. If we had a bad snap or something he still made something positive out of it and that was good to see.”
2. Offensive line might be Bozeman’s best position group
The Bucks returned three starters from last year’s unit in DJ Moore, Trevor Comer, and Danny Lentz, and Bozeman coach Jason Griffin praised the group’s play throughout the spring. They showed why on Thursday by paving the way for 176 rushing yards on 27 carries despite the Bucks being without top running back Ben McDonald.
Of the five running backs who carried the ball 20 times for 112 yards, only one, Trey Luna, has ever had a varsity carry before.
“I thought we got some really good offensive line play from DJ Moore, who did some great things inside,” Griffin said. “Overall we were able to play a physical brand of football, which is our brand of football here at Bozeman. We did shoot ourselves in the foot a couple times with some bad snaps, but overall it was a good night.”
3. The Rams have some young speed at the skill positions
Rutherford lost a good deal of skill talent from last season, including its top two rushers and top three pass catchers. Their replacements are pretty young, though they flashed some big potential on Thursday.
Eighth grade running back Roman Holmes showed his speed on a 60-yard screen pass on the first drive that was called back due to penalty, while Spencer showed the ability to get behind the defense on the TD catch from Davis, and freshman Jevon Hamilton provided the go-ahead score with a 75-yard end-around for a touchdown.
Freshman quarterback Deuce Black also showed a burst with the ball in his hands that could make it difficult to keep him off the field in some capacity this fall.
“Yeah we’re young, but we’ve got some talent,” Tillman said. “We’re just trying to get them that experience at the varsity level as opposed to the JV level. You’ve got a kid like Roman who played on the JV team and had flashes of greatness down there, so we just thought there’s no sense in leaving him down. He’s got a lot of speed and plays very mature and is very coachable. Really all of those kids have been very coachable the whole spring.”
4. Bozeman still has some work to do in the passing game.
The Bucks struggled to throw the ball in 2020 in part because of a lack of consistency on the outside. They struggled again on Thursday, with top quarterbacks Banks Byers and Peyton Gay combining to go 3 of 11 for just 12 yards.
Byers just missed on what could’ve been a touchdown on a deep throw on the game’s first play. There were also at least three drops, with one potential touchdown on a throw by Gay going through his intended receiver’s hands in the corner of the end zone.
However, Griffin expressed confidence in his young receivers after the game and said he believes the Bucks will be a better passing team in 2021.
“Every one of our receivers except for Logan Bolster are freshmen and sophomores, so we are really young and inexperienced but that is what the spring is for,” he said. “We had a chance to make a big play and tie the game and the kid that dropped the ball is a freshman, but it’s better to do that in the spring so in the fall he’ll have been in that situation before and he’ll make that play.
“The thing about that group is I’m completely confident that those guys are gonna make those plays next fall when it matters. I’m unconcerned about our wide receiver play compared to a year ago when I was terrified.”
5. The Rams may have found a difference-maker on the D-line in Lamar Potter
Lamar Potter didn’t make much of an impact in his first season on varsity, totaling just 10 tackles in four games. He looked every bit the part of a difference-making starter on Thursday, picking up two sacks and two tackles for loss by bullying his way through the interior of the Bozeman line.
If the Rams can get back a pair of athletic defenders who were out this spring in Cedric Bland and Zac Edwards, they could form along with Potter a pretty dynamic defensive front in the fall.
“He has come a long way,” Tillman said of Potter. “Last year was his first year of football and it was a lot of passive stuff, but now he gets that motor going and he’s understanding what he can do with that big ol’ frame. We’re excited about him. We can move him up and down the defensive front.”
