The Lehman defense was the story of the night at Lobo Field during the team's first-ever spring game. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
By WES FERGUSON
Tyler Hyss grabbed two interceptions, returning one of them 40 yards for a touchdown, as the Lehman defense roughed up their offensive counterparts on Tuesday night at Lobo Field.
Newcomer Foster Rico added an interception against sophomore quarterback Josh Guerrero in the first spring football game in school history. Guerrero is sharing time behind center with Paul Matthews as new head coach Todd Raymond determines which one will start when the season begins in August.
“Both of them have been in a competition with each other, and you could tell tonight they were nervous and they were trying too hard,” Raymond said. “Defense, that’s an adrenaline thing. Pin your ears back and go. You can’t play like that offensively. You need to be a little more under control.”
Hyss picked off both of his passes on throws to the sideline when Matthews, a sophomore, rolled right and tried to find Bradley Braxton in the flat.
“I kind of baited him,” said Hyss, a sophomore returning starter. “I let him get ahead then used my speed to catch up.”
With their coach running a scaled-back playbook during the intrasquad scrimmage, the quarterbacks had a hard time finding their rhythm. But they both settled down in the second half as Matthews moved the chains with his feet, putting together runs of 40 and 20 yards, and Guerrero overcame an inaccurate passing night to connect with wide receiver Brandon Hamilton for a long touchdown strike in the third quarter.
Hamilton juked Rico on a post route, then slowed down to haul in Guerrero’s underthrown pass for the 30-yard score.
“I actually ran the wrong route on that one. I was supposed to run a drag,” Hamilton said, commending Guerrero for adjusting to his miscue. “The quarterback and I have been working in the mornings on our timing and different combination routes.”
Hamilton, a returning starter, conceded that the defense held the upper hand for much of Tuesday’s scrimmage. Defensive tackles Kris Hernandez and Damian Ramon-Lowe each sacked Matthews in the first half.
The opportunity to evaluate players like Ramon-Lowe, who moved to defense after playing guard last year, has been a major benefit of participating in spring drills, rather than holding full two-a-days in August as the Lobos have in years past, according to defensive coordinator Toby Spivey.
“We got to see kids that we normally wouldn’t get enough time to look at during two-a-days,” said Spivey, who was also defensive coordinator under previous head coach Steve Davis. “Those kids got to perform and got a lot more reps this year than they ever have before, so we’re able to do a better job evaluating them.”
In the fourth quarter, Raymond revealed a new offensive wrinkle, called the “jumbo,” with offensive lineman Emilio Maldonado lined up in the offset fullback position. Running back Paul Brown followed Maldonado around the right end for a 20-yard touchdown dash in the fourth frame.
“Toward the end we relaxed a little bit,” Raymond said. “But I wanted them to be in a high-stress situation to get them to understand what Friday night’s going to be like come August.”
