From news services

PULLMAN — Washington State held its first football scrimmage of the spring with both sides of the ball having success on the afternoon at Gesa Field.

Early on it was all defense, holding the offense to three-and-outs on three of its first four possessions, including an interception by defensive back Jordan Lee on the second series.

The offense found its rhythm on its fifth drive as redshirt freshman quarterback Victor Gabalis connected with redshirt junior C.J. Moore on a quick slant at the goal line for the first touchdown of the day.

Two possessions later, freshman quarterback Emmett Brown capped an 80-yard drive with a 10-yard pass to redshirt freshman receiver Orion Peters. The drive started with freshman running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker breaking loose for a 61-yard run between the tackles on his first carry.

The defense then took over, holding the offense on its next three possessions, highlighted by redshirt freshman linebacker Micah Lopez's interception of a pass in the middle of the field by Chris Irvin, a walk-on from Lake City High.

Sophomore quarterback Cameron Ward rebounded from a slow start to have scoring strikes on back-to-back possessions, the first a 20-yard pass to junior Lincoln Victor followed by a 30-yard pass to Drake Owen.

Gabalis added his second touchdown pass of the day, finding redshirt sophomore Donovan Ollie on a 5-yard score. Irvin capped the scrimmage with a 20-yard pass to freshman Bode Brewer, sending the sidelines racing to the end zone to celebrate.

Irvin, a 2021 Lake City grad, completed 3 of 6 passes for 44 yards and one touchdown, with one interception.

On the day, WSU accounted for 560 yards of total offense, 410 through the air and 150 on the ground. Ward finished 14 of 21 through the air for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Victor finished with five receptions for 69 yards and the score, while Peters also had five catches for 39 yards, along with the touchdown. Schlenbaker finished his day with 70 yards on five carries.

The Cougar defense, in addition to the two interceptions, added nine sacks on the afternoon, two by redshirt freshman Raam Stevenson.

Spring practices continue Tuesday on Rogers Field.

SCORING PLAYS

C.J. Moore 5 pass from Victor Gabalis

Orion Peters 10 pass from Emmett Brown

Lincoln Victor 15 pass from Cameron Ward

Drake Owen 30 pass from Ward

Donovan Ollie 5 pass from Gabalis

Bode Brewer 30 pass from Chris Irvin

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Djouvensky Schlenbaker 5-70, Nakia Watson 5-28, Dylan Paine 5-24, Kson Mika 4-17, Kannon Katzer 2-11, Jaxon Sawyer 1-0.

PASSING — Cameron Ward 14-21-1-155, Victor Gabalis 11-14-0-85, Xavier Ward 5-11-0-90, Emmett Brown 3-5-0-24, Chris Irvin 3-6-1-44, Luke Holcomb 1-3-0-12.

RECEIVING — Lincoln Victor 5-69, Orion Peters 5-39, Donovan Ollie 4-52, Drake Owen 4-51, Dylan Paine 3-24, C.J. Moore 3-16, Bode Brewer 2-34, Anderson Grover 2-34, Tre Horner 2-22, Tsion Nunnally 2-20, Nakia Watson 2-7, Leon Neal Jr. 1-25, Jake Bowen 1-13, Billy Riviere 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS — Jordan Lee, Micah Lopez.

SACKS — Raam Stevenson 2, Amir Mujahid, Ahmir Crowder, Sam Lockett III, Travion Brown, Tyler Garay-Harris, Gabriel Lopez, Lawrence Falatea.