SAVANNAH, Ga. - Antonio Bostick is still Savannah State University's starting quarterback but head coach Steve Davenport said Saturday night that backup Victorian Hardison is closing in on the job.
 
Hardison, a 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore from Lovejoy, was 9-of-13 passing for 142 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown pass to Angelo Cauley, in the offense's 10-0 victory over the defense in the Blue & Orange Game at T.A. Wright Stadium.
 
A festive crowd of about 1,000 turned out for Fan Day, an opportunity to meet the players and coaches before the scrimmage.
 
Hardison, working with the second-string offense, moved the Tigers down the field with precision. 
 
“He's getting better,” Davenport said. “He's been around this program for two years so we expect that from Vic. And he's a smart kid. He's going to keep competing. The job's Antonio's but jobs have been taken in the past, so if he keeps working and keeps making
plays, we're going to give him an opportunity to play.”
 
Bostick, a 6-foot-1, 202-pound junior from Greensboro, Fla., was 3-of-13 passing for 83 yards. Third-string quarterback Leon Prunty, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound freshman from Stockbridge, was 6-of-11 passing for 81 yards.
 
SSU was 18-of-37 passing for 306 yards without an interception. The Tigers ran for minus-49 yards on 17 carries. The defense registered six sacks, getting to Hardison one time, Bostick twice and Prunty three times.
 
“We all worked hard on getting more ball push, getting more rush on the outside,” said defensive lineman Andrew Gardner, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound freshman from Alpharetta who made a game-high three sacks for minus-12 yards. “I guess the offense wasn't used to us and our speed.”
 
Bostick started the first three drives, which ended in punts. Hardison started the fourth drive and connected with Cauley to cap an eight-play, 84-yard drive. Freshman Preston McCarthy kicked the extra point.
 
“I have to put a lot of work in outside of practice,” Hardison said. “It's all about the film room. When I got out here today everything was wide open. It's all about pre-snap reads.
 
You're playing against 11 guys but when it comes down to it, you're almost reading three guys. You're playing against three guys. You've got to trust your O-line to give you time and then you just read where you have to read and get the ball out of your hands. It went real well today for me. “I believe that (touchdown) pass was probably about 10, 12 yards and once I put it in our playmakers' hands, they do the rest for me. I don't have to throw the ball 50 yards. Sometimes I can just pop it out there real quick and we have enough playmakers to take care of the rest.”
 
“It wasn't high-scoring but we showed that we can move the ball.” Said Cauley, “I saw the hole, hit it and took it to the house. I was the primary read on that. Everybody was just in sync with each other. The offense was in tune. The tempo was going. Everybody was just motivated to get to the end zone.”
S
SU played without three offensive linemen. Ioane Ioane, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound freshman from American Samoa, who is nicknamed “John John,” was injured during Wednesday's practice. Cedric “Chico” Brown, a 6-foot-2, 280-pound junior from Thomasville, is recovering from a shoulder contusion, Davenport said. Jonathan Clowers, a 6-foot-6, 290-pound junior from Perry, is ineligible, Davenport said.
 
“We went the first three drives without a first down and that was on top of the last four or five the last scrimmage without a first down,” Davenport said. “As an offensive coach, you're troubled. But as a head coach, you're hoping that it's because your defense is doing really well. I'll watch the film. We watched the film from last week's scrimmage and saw where we made some mistakes so it's the same thing this week. I'll come in tomorrow and watch film and figure out where we are, and as a staff we'll meet Monday and start the process of getting ready for Oklahoma State.”
 
SSU's season opener is Sept. 1 against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.
 
Hardison was at quarterback for the fifth drive, which ended in a missed 54-yard field goal attempt by McCarthy.
 
Prunty came in at quarterback on the second play of the sixth drive. After an incomplete pass, he connected with freshman wide receiver Kelvin Malone for a 52-yard gain. The seven-play, 56-yard drive ended with a missed 36-yard field goal attempt by McCarthy.
 
The scrimmage ended after McCarthy kicked a 26-yard field goal to cap a seven-play, 67-yard drive that Bostick engineered at quarterback. The highlight of the drive was Bostick's 67-yard pass to junior Jake Durham, a graduate of Long County High School in Ludowici, who on Wednesday moved from fourth-string quarterback to slot receiver.
 
“Certainly it helps the morale,” Davenport said of the big play. “Jake is one of the better-loved teammates on the team. He was a quarterback and he wasn't very high on the depth chart at quarterback, and went in and asked Coach (Terance) Mathis (SSU's offensive coordinator) if he could make the change. For him to be able to catch the ball in a venue like this was good for him and the team.”
 
Wide receiver Quentin Boswell, a freshman from Lithonia, made a game-high four catches for 77 yards.
 
Defensive back Brandon Jackson-Bell, a sophomore from Lithonia, made a game-high four tackles.
 
Christopher Bruce, a sophomore and graduate of Savannah's Memorial Day School, punted twice for a 33.5-yard average. Jacob Thomas, a freshman from Birmingham, Ala., punted twice for a 44.5-yard average.
 
Gardner said the energetic crowd motivated both the defense and offense.
 
“That's a great feeling, knowing that your fan base is behind you and knowing that you have a home section and they're rallying behind you,” he said. “Knowing that when you score they're going to cheer and when you make a stop they're going to cheer. Having a great fan base and having this many people show up, it shows us that the school is behind us and they're ready to see a turnaround here in the new season.”
 
Davenport said he was “satisfied” by his players' performance but added that much work remains.
 
“We have a long way to go,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do, obviously. But we're satisfied. Kids are showing enthusiasm about being out here and that's step one. We had to change some attitudes about their approach to the game and we think we're getting there. We're by no means where we want to be, but the process of working daily to get better, it continues.”
 
SSU will conduct its third and final scrimmage at 10 a.m. Saturday. It will be closed to the public. 


Hear Coach Davenport talk about the scrimmage HERE