COLUMBIA — Gerald Kilgore took the pitch and saw what he was looking for. Vicari Swain was wide-open in the end zone.
Kilgore threw, but short-armed it; Swain had no chance. Cornerback O’Donnell Fortune nearly intercepted it before it harmlessly hit the ground.
“GK said it stuck to his glove,” Swain said.
Spring game. No big deal.
Especially as Kilgore and Swain are defensive backs, and offense isn’t really their forte.
“Clearly,” coach Shane Beamer joked, “I’ve lost control of my football team.”
South Carolina concluded spring practice on Saturday with the Garnet and Black Spring Game. If anybody was looking for a final score, the Garnet team won 17-0; overall, the evening mostly accomplished its goals.
Nearly everybody got to play, particularly the young players, giving Beamer and his staff reps to evaluate in how they played “under the lights.”
The crowd was entertained. Nobody was seriously hurt.
“What a reward for our players. We told our players, ‘Have fun and compete tonight.’ It’s been a great spring for us,” Beamer said. “Feel like we certainly got better. No question we’ve made a lot of improvements.”
Quarterback LaNorris Sellers, presumed to be the starter once Old Dominion visits on Aug. 31 to begin the season, started the evening with a sparkling drive, completing all four of his passes for 38 yards and rushing thrice for 27 yards. He took in the day’s first touchdown with a 13-yard scamper through the left side of the defense after the play broke down.
“I think I did pretty good. We moved the ball, we scored, kept the ball safe,” Sellers said. “That’s the most important thing.”
He also led a two-minute drill at the end of the second quarter, but had to settle for Peyton Argent’s 22-yard field goal after Sellers’ pass glanced off the hands of tight end Josh Simon.
Sellers finished 9-of-11 for 70 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He rushed five times for 38 yards and the TD.
“I thought LaNorris was really, really good. He has been good all spring. We thought he looked very poised out there, very efficient running the game,” Beamer said. “The defensive guys were yelling at me, they thought a lot of those runs would have been sacks if I’d have blown the whistle.”
Freshman stud Dylan Stewart agreed. He reckoned USC’s defense got 12 sacks for the game.
Robby Ashford, brought in from Auburn to provide experienced backup — although with no named starter at present, could be much more — completed his only pass for 14 yards (to freshman Mazeo Bennett). DJay Braswell shouldered most of the rushing load, although Larry Scott, Oscar Adaway and Jawarn Howell each chipped in.
Bryan Thomas recorded 2.5 sacks, Monkell Goodwine had 1.5 while Stewart, the highest-rated member of USC’s signing class, got one. Swain, returned to DB, intercepted freshman Dante Reno in the fourth quarter.
Reno rebounded by finding Maurice Brown on a screen pass. Brown won the corner and out-ran the defense to the end zone.
Isaiah McClary intercepted Davis Beville late in the fourth quarter.
Sidelined
The Gamecocks, as expected, were without several players due to injury or simply not needing to play. Of the injuries, only one — defensive back Zahbari Sandy (ACL) — is expected to carry into the season. Sandy is highly doubtful to play this year.
Otherwise, RB Rocket Sanders, WR C.J. Adams, LB Mo Kaba, RB Bradley Dunn, RB Juju McDowell, Edge Elijah Davis, Edge Jatius Geer, WR Debron Gatling, DB King-Demenian Ford, DB David Spaulding, DB Steve McBeth, DT Jamaal Whyce, OL Jakai Moore, OL Chase Sweigart, TE Reid Mikeska and DB Judge Collier did not play.
OL Markee Anderson did not play after his back locked up on the first rep of pre-game warmups, an injury he’s been dealing with the past week. He’ll get checked out this week but Beamer didn’t think it was anything serious.
WR Nyck Harbor did not play due to concentrating on track during the spring, although he did attend. The Gamecocks held the all-day USC Open on Saturday and Harbor competed, posting a time in the 100 meters that would qualify for the Olympic trials.
