Duke receivers highlight scrimmage

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke Blue Devils held their second scrimmage of the week and first on their home field in Wallace Wade Stadium on Friday.

After an emotional scrimmage on Monday that saw starting linebacker Kelby Brown felled for the season as the result of a torn ACL injury to his left knee, the Blue Devils continued to prepare for their upcoming season and home opener against the Elon Phoenix on Aug. 30.

Following the session, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe was happy to point out that he had no new injury news to report.

That final note came after he highlighted the team’s effort and work on offense using four quarterbacks (Anthony Boone, Thomas Sirk, Parker Boehme, Nicodem Pierre) throughout the session while the defense allowed itself to settle into place with linebacker David Helton making the calls in the ‘Mike’ position, Brown’s former role in the backfield.

It was the offense that grabbed the attention as receivers Johnell Barnes and Jamison Crowder caught four passes each while rookie Chris Taylor hauled in a four-yard touchdown strike to highlight the 80-snap scrimmage.

“I really loved our energy,” Cutcliffe said.

“I thought our focus was outstanding.  I thought from the minute we set foot on the field, we’d kind of hoped to get that out of them the way we’ve prepared the last two days. A lot of positive things. I think our defense was cohesive. What I mean by that is people were where they were supposed to be – there was nothing given to the offense. They had to earn it. At times, the offense did earn it.”

Barnes caught four passes for a team-high 55 yards, including a 30-yard strike from Sirk, while Crowder’s four receptions went for 32 yards.

Boehme, who completed 10-of-13 pass attempts for 74 yards on the day, fired the four-yard touchdown pass to Taylor.

Boone was eight-of-15 through the air for 90 yards while Sirk finished four-of-six for 63 yards and rushed seven times for 14 yards and one touchdown.

“We saw a lot of great things from the second scrimmage,” Boone said.

“Playing on the game field, seeing what it’s going to be like on Saturdays. A lot of guys showed flashes of making great plays. Overall, we’re very happy, on both sides of the ball, with where we are.”

“I think overall we had a great scrimmage with every group today,” added Sirk.

“I commend our defense for a great scrimmage today, too.”

Freshman pivot Pierre also got reps in the scrimmage, showing some versatility in running with, handing off and passing the ball, and showing that his recovery from a hand injury was progressing positively.

His time in taking regular snaps for the Blue Devils will eventually come.

“Nico is dealing with coming off surgery, so he’s having trouble,” Cutcliffe said.

“He’s got a cast (on), so he’s having trouble commanding control of the ball as well as he will. One of the things you saw today, as we all did, was that he’s a big guy that can run. He’s fast and he’s powerful. I thought all the quarterbacks played well…I think we’ve got three quarterbacks who will be ready to play when we start the season.”

Up front, redshirt senior offensive guard Laken Tomlinson was pleased with his unit’s performance.

“It was great,” Tomlinson said.

“I thought the offensive line had a lot of fire in them. We definitely came off the ball physical. We’re just working on things that Coach (John) Latina taught us – physical fundamentals, getting off the ball, being low and just playing our hearts out.”

Duke’s ground game was paced by Jackson Conway, who picked up 42 yards on seven attempts, and Josh Snead, who carried the ball five times for 33 yards.

Defensively, end Dezmond Johnson posted two tackles for loss including a sack while Britton Grier added two tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Cornerback T.J. Douglas accounted for the game’s lone turnover with an interception.

I thought all in all, sideline communication, the tempo of play, the energy of play was really, really good,” Cutcliffe concluded.

“We got a lot of young people work. In between the best versus the best, we had our squad scrimmaging as well, so we’ve got a lot of tape to look at and evaluate.”

Following a grueling week of practice and scrimmaging, the team will relax a little and host its annual Meet the Blue Devils event on Saturday from 2-4 p.m. at Pascal Field House.

The event is free of charge and open to the public.