Wake Forest's second scrimmage of the spring began yesterday with linebacker Matt Woodlief knocking fullback Mike Rinfrette out of commission and ended with quarterback Riley Skinner running from BB&T Field to keep from getting left by the team bus.
In between, Coach Jim Grobe saw a lot of things he liked, but he would have rather seen them earlier.
The offensive line, the unit that Grobe plans to build his 2009 team around, finally began to take charge by the end, in time to stage two time-consuming drives that ended with short touchdowns by freshman fullback Tommy Bohannon. But Grobe was not pleased to see three of the earlier four drives result in field goals.
"I think probably what happened is they just had enough chances," Grobe said. "And that's not good enough. The thing about our offensive line, they had a pretty impressive drive to end the scrimmage. But we would have already been behind by about 28 points by the time they made that last drive.
"So we've got to learn to fire first and fast, and not be counting on the end of the scrimmage to have a good-looking drive and call that a day."
The player who might have made the biggest impression on Grobe was Josh Adams, a tailback who was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 2007 but struggled through an injury-marred sophomore season. He gained 69 yards on 14 carries and had the longest run of the day of 19 yards.
Brandon Pendergrass gained 19 yards on six carries and Kevin Harris, the first-team running back based on his performance in the EagleBank Bowl victory over Navy, gained 18 on eight carries.
Freshman Lovell Jackson, who looked impressive in last Saturday's first scrimmage, missed yesterday after injuring his ankle in practice Wednesday. Grobe said that Jackson might have a high-ankle sprain.
"Josh Adams has just continued to do some really good things for us," Grobe said. "He ran well today. I thought Kevin had a couple of nice runs and I thought Brandon had a couple of nice runs.
"But over and over I keep seeing Josh Adams pop up and do some nice things. It looks like the old Josh Adams."
Jackson was one of several Deacons to miss the scrimmage with injuries. Defensive tackle Boo Robinson and cornerback Brandon Ghee were ruled out of spring practices early, Robinson with a herniated disc and Ghee with a torn MCL suffered on the first day of practices. Yesterday, wide receiver Marshall Williams was sidelined with an injured shoulder, offensive guard Dennis Godfrey with a sprained knee and defensive end Kyle Wilber with a bruised shoulder and knee.
Grobe said he's confident that all will be recovered by the time that preseason practices begin in August. But he is a bit concerned about Rinfrette, who had a concussion after the hard lick by Woodlief on the first play.
"Woody does that to a lot of people," Grobe said. "(Wednesday) he took out Dennis Godfrey and Lovell Jackson on the same play, and today he bumps into Mike. That's a problem for Mike because that's a couple (of concussions) this spring and that gets to be a little bit scary.
"The good news is I really love what Tommy Bohannon's doing. He's been a real surprise. To come in as a rookie -- he still should be in high school -- and play fullback like he's playing is really exciting."
Bohannon is a 6-2, 245-pound freshman from Fort Myers, Fla., who enrolled in January.
Skinner completed 18 of 23 passes for 207 yards, Ryan McManus completed five of nine for 55 yards, Ted Stachitas completed four of four for 45 yards and Skylar Jones completed one of two for six yards.
Freshman Chris Givens caught six passes for 50 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Terence Davis caught four for 95 yards -- including one from Skinner for 54 yards -- but also dropped a pass he might have caught for a touchdown.
The Deacons' spring scrimmage is scheduled for April 18 on campus.
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com
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