New Hampshire Football Report

Knight shines in final tune-up

DURHAM – Senior quarterback Trevor Knight completed 10 of his 14 passes for 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and the defense came up with three interceptions as the University of New Hampshire football team closed out fall camp with a scrimmage game in Wildcat Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

The Wildcats, ranked in the Top 10 in several national NCAA Division I FCS polls, will now turn their attention to the season-opener at Colonial Athletic Association rival Maine on Aug. 30 (7 p.m.).

“This is the last go around,” said senior defensive end and captain Jae’Wuan Horton. “It’s exciting. Over the next week there’s going to be a lot of focus from the team, just making sure everybody’s on the same page when we go (up) to Maine.”

Tuesday’s scrimmage ended in a 21-21 tie.

SCRIMMAGE BY THE NUMBERS

  • Sophomore safety Evan Horn picked off a pass and returned it 50 yards for the last touchdown of the scrimmage.
  • Junior safety Matt Sherlock and freshman defensive back Bobby DeMeo had the other interceptions.
  • Freshman defensive back Christian Peete led the defense with eight tackles.
  • Redshirt freshman safety Pop Bush and junior linebacker Cameron Brusko had six tackles each.
  • Senior wide receiver Kieran Presley scored on a 17-yard pass from Knight.
  • Presley led the team with five catches for 64 yards.
  • Junior tight end Justin Malone-Woods caught Knight’s first TD pass for eight yards and a score.
  • Fourteen different players caught passes from five UNH quarterbacks.
  • Redshirt freshman Stephen Hedberg had the other passing touchdown, connecting for a 14-yard score with freshman tight end Kyle Lepkowski.
  • Lepkowski had three catches for 60 yards.
  • Freshman wide receiver Charles Briscoe III caught four passes for 25 yards.
  • Redshirt freshman running back Carlos Washington, Jr.  scored the lone rushing touchdown on a 1-yard run.
  • Washington had four carries for 33 yards.
  • Freshman Dylan Laube had seven carries for 55 yards.
  • Freshman Jacob Post carried nine times for 34 yards.
  • Wide receivers senior All American Neil O’Connor and junior Malik Love did not play.

QUOTEWORTHY

Quotes from UNH head coach Sean McDonnell:

— “I was also pleased with the offensive line. They’ve been taking a lot of heat for over a year here from me.  Today I thought with everything going on they did a really good job protecting the quarterback with the matchups that we had.”

“If we hang onto the ball and do the little things the right way, disciplined things, we have a chance to be a decent team. But, and the big but is, are we going to hang onto it and are we going to have our eyes where they belong and do all the things we need to do?”

— “We need Kieran (Presley) to help with Love and O’Connor and the tight ends and the other guys to be able to give us threats that can get in open space and be in one-on-one coverage. He’s a very talented kid. Now he’s got to put it all together and play. He got close at the end of last year. He’s had a heckuva camp and I hope he continues to grow on it. . . . It’s been a tough run for him (health-wise). He’s had a good run since spring. He’s one of the few receivers who stayed healthy all spring. We’re expecting big things from him if he stays healthy.”

–“This defense can be great. I saw a lot of juice and everybody was flying around having a good time. Our first defense was looking very good. Getting starters back is always good and we can build off where we left off last season. Today we were looking for execution and making sure everybody’s on the same page and the first defense did that. We held the two offense . . . I don’t think they even got a first down during the first half of the game. We came out and executed and did what we wanted to do.”

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