Tech football closes out spring with a balanced spring game

ATLANTA- Georgia Tech held the annual spring game Saturday in Bobby Dodd Stadium and in front of mostly full east stands put on an offensive showcase highlighted by walk-on Chris Elko who had five catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns one for each side of the ball. Team Swarm which featured mostly the first-team offense and defense prevailed 27-24 over the second-team offense and defense Team Wreck’em.

Tech quarterback Haynes King played the first half of the scrimmage leading his team a touchdown on the opening drive of the scrimmage.

“It’s always fun especially in the spring getting to showcase what we’ve done and what we are working on. I was a little mad when they took me out, after that I was walking around with nothing to do and I said screw this and started signaling and I messed Leo up on one of them, but other than that it went pretty smoothly,” King said. “A lot of our guys had fun.”

The surprise star of the day, Elko was someone that King said he spent a lot of time with helping him deal with some mental struggles as he tried to climb the depth chart as a walk-on.

“It was fun and everyone was rooting him on,” King said of Elko’s big day. I talked with him and he was kind of struggling mentally and saying he just needed a chance and I told him he had to be ready and he finally got that chance and made the most of it. Every time he got it the sideline went nuts and that play before the end of the half, my God he stuck the ball out and scored right there. That was ridiculous.”

Elko hauled in a 54-yard pass from quarterback Zach Pyron with no time left in the first half stretching out to score over a defender at the pylon.

Head coach Brent Key was pleased with Elko and how he has progressed this spring within the program.

“What an outstanding day he had but for people who have been at practice seeing him every day it is not that surprising. He was an outstanding high school football player and we are really lucky to have him here,” Key said.

King finished early in the first half with 11-15 passing for 99 yards with one touchdown and one interception. His interception came on an acrobatic play by safety Taye Seymore who tipped a pass that Cade Adams intercepted.

Pyron was 11 for 20 overall passing for two touchdowns and 194 yards, but with the first-team offense, he looked very sharp passing for 162 yards of the 194 on 8-14 passing with both touchdowns.

Aaron Philo was 6-9 passing for 120 yards and two touchdowns and Graham Knowles rounded out the scholarship QB play with 6-11 passing for 69. Walk-on Ben Guthrie was 4-7 passing for 57 yards with a touchdown and Brody Rhodes ran for 33 yards on three rushes and completed a nine-yard pass as well, but threw an interception on fourth down in the end zone.

Tech’s running game looked sharp with star back Jamal Haynes playing one full series with six carries for 42 yards and a touchdown. He also had a six-yard catch as well. Team Swarm had 95 yards on 18 carries in the game led by Haynes and Trey Cooley who added 23 yards on five carries.

The receivers spread the love around with Elko having the best day. Malik Rutherford had five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown while Abdul Janneh added five catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. Slot receiver Bailey Stockton nearly had a 79-yard touchdown, but was called out of bounds on a tight rope down the sideline in the 20s. He ended up with three catches for 93 yards yard. Zion Taylor had three catches including a very impressive one-handed grab for a touchdown in the end zone and 71 yards total. Tight end Rylan Goedde had three catches, receiver Leo Blackburn had three catches and a touchdown in his return after two ACL injuries and Eric Singleton and Chase Lane each had a pair of receptions to round out some of the top receiver performances.

Blackburn was happy to finally get to play in a spring game again.

“It was a blessing,” Blackburn said of being back in action. “I’ve been patient all this time and had a lot of prayers just waiting my turn. It felt good (to score) and I wish I had the first one.”

The new-look Tech defense was also showcased for the first time with new defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci and several new assistants. Veteran defensive tackle Zeek Biggers said he has enjoyed the switch and the new coaches.

“We made some big changes with the coaching staff and we dialed up new packages to have me and Horace (Lockett) inside and Josh Robinson and Kevin Harris on the outside. We will be a force to be reckoned with this coming season,” Biggers said.

Linebacker Kyle Efford had four tackles leading the new-look first-team defense. He said the spring game was a good showcase for how much the defense has improved over the last five weeks.

“I started off a little slow, this game is all about confidence and we are learning a new defense and you don’t have much confidence and it makes it hard to play fast, but slowly we started stacking days and slowly progressing each day and we started getting ot the point where I was much more comfortable out there like today. I was feeling very comfortable and you see that even in young guys like Tah’j Butler,” Efford said.

Safety Khari Gee led the team with seven tackles. Kace Adams had an interception off a tipped pass by Taye Seymore and Warren Burrell had an interception in the end zone as well. Adams ended the day with three tackles, a TFL and an interception.

On the special teams front, Aidan Birr hit a 62-yard field goal and just missed from 59 yards out in tough conditions. Birr’s long field goal came after some prodding by the kicker to Key as Key initially sent the punt team out and then had to call a timeout to let Birr try it from 62.

“If you notice I called the punt team out there and I saw (Birr) look at me from the sidelines and just stare and I waved him over and he goes I can make it. I called the timeout and he hit. The second one (the miss) was probably more challenging because of the way the wind was blowing at the time and being at the offset hash. It was a lot more of a challenging kick and he put the right English on it to get it to go in. He was pretty mad about that one. He has a strong leg and he is a really good football player.”

Other than an ACL injury to Jackson Long, Key said the team left spring ball without any other serious injuries and several players were held out on of action that would normally be available during a game.

Tech opened with the one offense vs the second defense and Haynes ran twice for 25 yards before Kace Adams tackled him for a loss on his third rushing attempt. Ayo Tifase jumped offsides on third and long and then Haynes King hit Malik Rutherford for 16 yards before he was tackled by Khari Gee on a big hit. King hits Eric Singleton on the next play down to the 11 for 15 yards and then Haynes ran in an 11-yard touchdown run capped by a Aidan Birr PAT to put Team Swarm up 7-0.

Evan Dickens ran for four yards on first down. Zach Pyron hit Abdul Janneh on the run for a six-yard gain and a first down. Bailey Stockton dropped a second down pass from Pyron over the middle, but Pyron extended the third down play against pressure and hit Janneh for 16 yards to cross midfield. Pyron ran for five yards on first down to the 45. Dickens couldn’t covert on third down picking up a yard. Aidan Birr hit a 61-yard field goal to make it 7-3.

King hit Rylan Goede for first down with a 12-yard pass. King overshot Singleton on a deep shot. Haynes ran for five yards on second down to the 45 to set up third and five. Taye Seymore tipped the third down pass and Kace Adams intercepted the pass and returned the ball to the Swarm38.

Pyron hit Stockton on a swing pass for 11 yards to the Swarm37 on first down. Anthony Carrie ran twice for three yards to set up third and long. Warren Burrell broke up the third-down pass to Zion Taylor and Gavin Stewart missed a 41-yard field goal.

Taking over at their own 24, Jacob Cruz stuffed Cooley on first down to end the first quarter. King hit Cooley on second down, but he slipped and Eddie Kelly tackled him for a three-yard loss. King hit Singleton for a first down at the 36 for 15 yards. Cooley was tackled for a loss on first down. King hit Rutherford for six yards on second down to set up third and five. King hit Rutherford again for 22 yards to the Wreck38. After throwing the ball away on first down, King hit Rutherford for seven yards to set up third and short at the 31. King hit Goede for a six-yard gain and a first down. Cooley ran for 13 yards on the next play to the 13. Cooley picked up five yards on first down. Cooley nearly fumbled the next run losing a yard to set up third and medium. King hit Rutherford on a swing pass, he broke two tackles to score from eight yards out. Birr hit the PAT to put Swarm up 14-3.

Wreck took over at the 25 with Aaron Philo at quarterback. Chad Alexander picked up 11 yards on first down. Alexander picked up a yard on the next play and then Philo overshot a receiver on second down to set up third and long. Kevin Harris sacked Philo on third down. David Shanahan’s punt was fielded by Rodney Shelley.

Swarm started the next drive at their own 20. Pyron took over with the first team offense and hit Christian Leary for six yards. Daylon Gordon ran for five yards to covert the first down. Pryon on third down hit Bailey Stockton for 26 yards to the Wreck47. Gordon ran for five yards on first down. Birr missed from 59 yards out after two incomplete passes.

Evan Dickens ran for 15 yards on first down and Philo scrambled for five yards across to the Swarm43. Dickens picked up the first down on the next play to the 36. Philo got sacked on a play where he hit Zion Taylor for a near touchdown to set up second and long with 29 seconds. Stockton juggled and caught a tough ball from Philo and ran to the 9 for a 31-yard gain. Philo hit Janneh for a nine-yard touchdown. Gavin Stewart hit the PAT to make it 14-10 Swarm with 17 seconds left in the half.

Pyron took over at the 25 and hit Goede for nine yards on first down. Pyron scrambled and hit Chris Elko for a 54-yard touchdown to end the half 21-10 Wreck.

Graham Knowles took over at quarterback and nearly threw an interception on his first pass on a flea-flicker to Brody Rhodes that Omar Daniels nearly intercepted. Knowles scrambled for a yard and then overshot his receiver on third down to force a punt.

Pyron led Swarm on the next drive starting at the 27. Pyron couldn’t connect with Chase Lane on first down. Pyron hit Trey Cooley for 12 yards on first down. Pyron hits Chris Elko on the next play for 39 yards. Elko picked 18 yards on the next play to set up first and goal. Pyron hit Leo Blackburn on third and goal for a seven-yard touchdown, but kicker Ashton Paredes missed the PAT to make it 27-10.

Brody Rhodes took over for Wreck on the next series and ran for 12 yards on second down to the 40. Rhodes hit Zion Taylor for nine yards on third down to cross midfield. Rhodes ran for 24 yards on the next play. Rodney Shelley had a PBU on third down in the end zone and Warren Burrell picked off Rhodes on fourth down in the end zone.

Knowles hit Blackburn on first down for nine yards and then hit Chase Lane for 17 yards. On the next play, he hit Chris Elko for 28 yards on the next play to the Wreck26. Knowles hit Gordon for a short gain on second down and then overthrew him on third down to set up fourth and four at the 20. Knowles hit Blackburn on a crossing route for eight yards to set up a first down at the Wreck12. Taye Seymore tackled Chase Lane in the open field for a short loss. On third down, Lane couldn’t haul in Knowles' pass to set up fourth down and eight to go at the 10. Knowles threw a pretty ball in the corner, but led Lane just too far out of bounds on a diving catch for a turnover on downs.

Philo took over for the Wreck at their 20. On second down, Philo hit Stockton for a 57-yard pass. Zion Taylor hauled in a 22-yard touchdown two plays later on a one-handed grab over Shelley on a ball he tipped to himself to cut the Swarm lead to 27-17.

Rhodes took over the next series for the Swarm and Jamie Felix ran for 15 yards on first down. Eddie Kelly sacked Rhodes on third down to stall the drive at the 45 and force a punt.

Ben Guthrie took over for the Wreck on the next series. Alexander ran for nine yards on first down. Alexander converted on third down for four yards to the 35. Guthrie hit Janneh for 11 yards on the next play to the 46. Carrie lost a yard on a screen on a TFL by Tah’j Butler. Omar Daniels defended the third down pass for Trent Davis from Guthrie to set up fourth and eight at the 48. Guthrie hit Zion Taylor for 30 yards to the 12. The drive stalled out at the 7 setting up a fourth and five and Guthrie hit Elko for a 7-yard touchdown to end the spring game 27-24 after a Birr PAT.