The UNA defense walked away with a 42-38 Purple-White game victory over the Lions' offense. The winning points came on a walk-off interception return for a touchdown by redshirt sophomore Cameron Jamar.
The big play put an exclamation point on Brent Dearmon's first spring practice as the UNA head coach.
"The defense started strong, and then the offense responded, and it went back and forth to the final play," said Dearmon in a story on the UNA Athletics website. "I've never had a spring game end on a walk-off interception, but that was fitting for the big-time college football atmosphere that we had."
The UNA offense scored five times in the game, which was played at the Lions' practice facility. Four of the touchdowns came through the air. Wide receiver Takairee Kenebrew, the team's leading receiver last season, had touchdown receptions of 31 yards from quarterback T.J. Smith and 12 yards from running back Demarcus Lacey. Noah Walters, last season's starting quarterback, threw a 10-yard scoring toss to Jaquan Woods. Ben Harris threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Maleek Pope.
The lone rushing touchdown was a 1-yard plunge by Jalyn Daniels.
"We wanted to send a message to our fans that we want to be a tough, physical football team," said Dearmon. "Our quarterbacks were live in the first half, and our guys were getting after it. We showed up, we played physical, and we played smart."
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