Lamar sports information
BEAUMONT — It was a special day on the Lamar campus as LU prepared for its August commencement. Before the graduates received their diplomas the football team walked on the field at Provost Umphrey Stadium for its second preseason scrimmage.

The offense was kept out of the end zone with the lone points coming off the leg of freshman kicker Elvin Martinez during special teams work. Martinez finished the day 2 of 3 with makes from 37 and 32 yards out. His lone miss came on a 47-yard attempt.

The defense’s ability to keep the offense out of the end zone was overshadowed by the mistakes on the field in all phases of the game.

“We had too many mistakes this afternoon,” said LU head coach Mike Schultz, who is entering his first regular season with the Cardinals. “We had two blocks in the back on a punt return which forced us to put the ball on the minus 9-yard line. The chances of an offense driving 91 yards is a very low percentage. Defense was offsides three times on third down conversions and we gave up the first down. That is unacceptable. We have to eliminate the mistakes. The mistakes we made today will cost you football games.”

Big Red’s offense was slow getting started Saturday morning. Both Darrell Colbert and Adam Morse faced three-and-outs before senior Andrew Allen stepped on the field and quickly moved the ball down to the defense’s 31-yard line. Allen completed his first four pass attempts and picked up three first downs on the drive, including one via penalty, before the drive stalled out.

Big Red’s defense finished the day with a sack and three pass breakups. The lone sack came from junior Cameron Hampton who finished the scrimmage with three unassisted stops. Sophomore defensive back Shyler Staton added three stops, while freshman linebacker Josh Jinning led all players with five tackles.

The Cardinals quarterbacks finished the day completing 10-of-22 (.455) passes for 52 yards and no interceptions. Allen led the way going 4-of-5 for 32 yards. He also carried the ball once for four yards. Colbert did the majority of his damage on the ground carrying the ball three times for 29 yards.

As a team, the Cardinals finished the workout carrying the ball 18 times for 61 yards.

“We did some things right at times,” said Schultz. “We are getting better but we have to keep working. We have to eliminate these mistakes.”

The Cardinals begin the fourth week of preseason camp Monday afternoon. The Red and White will kick off the season Saturday, Sept. 2, at North Texas. The game against the Mean Green will kick off at 6 p.m. in Denton.