What happened during the Wake Forest spring scrimmage? Here's a look

Wake Forest tried to cram a lot into its spring scrimmage on Saturday afternoon at Allegacy Stadium, and for the most part, it got everything in without a hitch.

From the fanfest that included a youth football clinic to a flag football tournament at one end of the field, there was plenty going on.

Coach Jake Dickert saw plenty of positives from his second spring session of practices and offered an honest assessment.

"I think the biggest thing on the top of my mind is we need to be more of a physical football team," said Dickert, who is coming off a breakthrough 9-4 record in his first season in Winston-Salem. "I don't know if that showed up enough on offense today. Obviously, we have a high expectation of what our defense is doing, and I thought those guys did a good job out there."

Dickert had 77 players dressed for the controlled scrimmage, but the good news on a hot and humid afternoon was there were no players who suffered any cramps.

Most of the starters who were healthy enough played in the first half. Because of the flag football games, the first half had the offense start each of its drives from near midfield.

"We have to grow and get better, but the health of this football team has never been better," Dickert said. "I've never had a better situation coming out of spring football after 13 practices."

The Demon Deacons will have two more practices to complete their 15 practices allowed in the spring by the NCAA.

As Dickert looked ahead to the fall, he was asked who impressed him the most this spring.

"A couple of guys have stood out, and we talk about the young guys and (running back) Deuce Lawrence and (linebacker) Vinnie Firenze who is a guy that is coming from Dayton and was a safety and is now a linebacker," Dickert said. "You look at how fast and natural he is and you look at Deuce Blades, who had an (interception) so he's been steady."

Here are three observations:

Offensive line's continuity

For the most part, the starting offensive line has stayed the same throughout spring practice.

For the controlled scrimmage, the center was Will Way on the first team flanked by Clinton Richard and Ryan Berger with tackles Elliot Demaine and Aiden Martin. Two of the expected starters, George Stieth and Jack Hines, will be back by the fall.

"We have a bunch of interchangeable pieces there," Dickert said. "We have to protect the quarterback. I thought they've done a good job over the last few days, but we have to get stronger up front. I'm excited that we will get George Stieth and Jack Hines back."

The important plays

The first big play was Blades making an interception in the end zone on a fly pattern with Jack Foley as the intended target. Gio Lopez didn't lead Foley enough and Blades was there for the interception.

On the next series with Steele Pizzella in the game at quarterback, he hit Eligah Otieno for a 30-yard touchdown. Otieno worked his way through the secondary, caught the ball at the 10, and went in for the score.

Quarterback Grant Lawless came in, but fumbled a shotgun snap which was recovered by lineman Josh Harrison.

A little later, Lopez had a better drive going from the 40 down to the 4-yard line, but they had to settle for a 22-yard field goal from Caleb Carlson.

Pizzella also put together another drive that was highlighted by a 25-yard catch and run by Otieno. It was Pizzella who scored on a 6-yard scramble after the right side opened off a fake handoff.

"He brings a different skill set," Dickert said of Pizzella. "He can really run."

Lopez had a good drive later in the scrimmage and it ended with him scoring on a 3-yard run. On the drive, the key play was a 22-yard completion to Foley.

On a third-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Pizzella made a nice play on a forward pitch to tight end Dominic Berry, a true freshman from Greenwood, Indiana. That was Pizzella's third touchdown drive in the first half.

To end the first half, Connor Calvert booted a 57-yard wind-aided field goal that would have been good from about 65 yards.

In the first half, the Demon Deacons had one turnover and were called for eight penalties. The penalties were split with four on the offense and four on the defense as the first and second stringers saw action.

For the second half of the scrimmage, which had live tackling, third-team players saw most of the action.

Youth football clinic was a hit

Before the controlled scrimmage, Dickert and his staff and several players helped run a free children's clinic. The camp was for kindergarteners through fifth graders.

"We gave away something like 500 t-shirts," Dickert said. "So, this was a big, community event and I'm so proud that we were able to do this."

Langston Hardy said seeing the children go through some drills and catch footballs made it a fun event.

"It's something that we were more than happy to do," said Hardy, who has been out of spring practice but will be one of the defense's best players this fall. "Just to see all the kids out here working through the drills and stuff brings back memories for me."

Last spring, the team didn't get a chance to have a community event, but Dickert wanted to make that happen.

"It's so important to get the kids out here and make it a community thing because that's who we are," he said. "I'm glad it worked out and the turnout was great."

When it was suggested that the children might want some NIL money, Dickert said: "All they want are popsicles now that's it over."

During the controlled scrimmage, half the field was occupied by a youth flag football tournament sponsored by the NFL.

"We're thankful the NFL brought the flag football tournament here," Dickert said. .

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.