RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The Hardrocker football team continues to get further into spring ball. On Tuesday night, they held their first scrimmage.
 
With the Hardrockers scrimmage Tuesday night beginning with work in the red zone, senior quarterback Jayden Johannsen hit redshirt sophomore tight end Henry Dryden on a 20-yard touchdown pass on the first play.
 
On the next possession, junior quarterback Jake Martinelli found redshirt freshman receiver Josh Wolfer on a short TD pass.
 
Two possessions, two touchdowns. Head coach Charlie Flohr was pleased with how things started for his offense, although maybe not so much for the 'Rocker defense.
 
Like most scrimmages, it was an up-and-down performance on both sides of the football. After that initial success, the Hardrockers' offense struggled to move the ball and the defense also had a pair of pass interceptions.
 
"We did a lot of great things on the offensive side of the football. We scored two touchdowns in the red zone, which has been a big emphasis for us," Flohr said. "But then we got in the open field, and we went three-and-out three times and turned the ball over. We had some real explosive plays, but we really didn't establish a drive, so that's something we've got to work on. "The defense gave up those touchdowns in the red zone and had too many explosives. But on the positive side, the three three-and-outs were great as were the turnovers."
 
Flohr felt his quarterbacks – Johannsen, Martinelli, and redshirt freshman Diego Cervantes -- were good at times, but inconsistent. He said a lot of it had to do with some misreads and some missed routes, as well as protection busts."That's one thing we definitely have to get better at during the course of the spring and summertime, just the new group of receivers that we've got, getting some camaraderie with our quarterbacks and working on that timing," he said.


Jayden Johannsen dropping back to pass. 

Last season the Hardrockers struggled at times in the red zone and Flohr said it certainly is something they have to improve on. "Offensively we've got to be able to score points down there. We have a phenomenal kicker (junior Connor Taylor), with a great leg, but we've got to finish, we've got to score touchdowns," he said. "Defensively we've got to find a way to stop people down there, which is tough and challenging. But I think again early in a scrimmage, if you can establish that you're able to stop the run and keep people out of the end zone, it should carry on to the rest of the scrimmage." Johannsen also had another touchdown pass, while sophomore Ty Harris led the running attack with a 58-yard touchdown run.
 
Defensively, senior Kaleb Tischler and junior Eli Bowman had the pass interceptions.


Eli Bowman running back interception during scrimmage Tuesday. 

Tuesday night was the Hardrockers' 10th spring practice. They have four more regular practices – Thursday and Friday of this week and Tuesday and Thursday of next week -- before the annual Spring Game Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m. at O'Harra Stadium.
 
With the spring season nearly in the books, Flohr believes his squad has made some strong strides, especially with his younger players getting plenty of reps. He said it has given the coaches an opportunity to see where they're at. He added that now is time for those younger players to step up and make plays.
 
"We're two-thirds done with spring ball and we wanted to see what those young kids were able to do when the lights are on," he said of Tuesday night's early-evening scrimmage.  "We still have some things we have to learn and improve on. It's just get back to fundamentals probably in the next four practices, but it's been good. Our kids are working extremely hard and we're very proud of that and they're willing to learn and eager to learn."
 
For the younger players who will be looked for to add depth, Flohr said he believes a lot of it is just getting into the film room, spending a lot of time with the starter or the guy above them within the depth chart, focusing in on what the offense is doing or what the defense is doing and trying to find just little increases in regards to why they are doing the things they are doing.
 
"Physically we're there, we're able to make the plays, but it's just having the general understanding of the game. Then hopefully the game will slow down for them a little bit instead of it being so fast when they are out there," he said.


 
Tuesday's scrimmage came under a balmy 85 degree temperature and sunny skies, albeit with some wind gusts. That was in comparison to originally being scheduled for last Thursday morning at 6:30 a.m., coming off of the winter blizzard that dumped over a foot of snow on Rapid City.
 
Flohr said from his standpoint he usually wants to do a scrimmage a little more in the middle of spring ball, which gives them more time to focus for the end of the session and the spring game. "But the Midwest is the Midwest and we can't control the weather, we can't control things that we can't control," he said. "But you know, we got what we needed out of today and we'll definitely look to improve moving forward."

About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 11 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.