By Duke Athletics

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke football team tied a bow on the spring practice session Saturday afternoon with the program’s Blue & White game inside Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. The offense (Blue Team) held off the defense (White Team) for a 38-26 victory.

The contest featured four 10-minute quarters with a running clock in the final period. The offense had traditional scoring with a bonus point being added for a touchdown of 20 or more yards. Specialty scoring was used for the defense with three points for a fourth-down stop, two points for a three-and-out and one point for a sack.

On the opening drive with rising redshirt sophomore quarterback Darian Mensah, the offense took an 8-0 lead on a 33-yard scoring pass from Mensah to rising redshirt sophomore Spencer Jones. The defense answered with a three-and-out on a Henry Belin IV drive to make it an 8-2 contest. 

Mensah’s second drive made the score 16-2 in favor of the offense as he hit rising redshirt sophomore Que’Sean Brown with a 75-yard score. 

The Duke defense rallied with the game’s next 11 points with four three-and-outs and three sacks to draw within 16-13 with 6:12 remaining in the first half. Rising redshirt senior Tre Freeman, rising redshirt junior Wesley Williams, rising sophomore Tyshon Reed and rising redshirt freshman Kobe Smith tallied the Blue Devils’ sacks during the run. 

The offense answered with Belin hitting rising redshirt senior Sahmir Hagans for a 31-yard score with 3:37 before intermission for a 24-13 lead. A three-and-out by the defense and sack made it 24-16 with 21 seconds left in the second, but rising senior Todd Pelino drilled a 42-yard field goal to end the half with the offense leading 27-16. 

Out of the break, Duke’s defense dominated the third quarter with a 6-0 period aided by a fourth-down stop, three-and-out and sack by rising redshirt sophomore Luke Mergott. The offense held a 27-22 lead going into the final frame. 

A sack from rising redshirt sophomore Desmond Aladuge pulled the defense to 27-23 at the 6:34 mark before rising sophomore Cosme Salas converted a 37-yard field goal to push the offense in front 30-23. 

The Blue Devil defense then forced a four-and-out for a 30-26 score with two minutes to play.

Duke’s offense put the game away as true freshman quarterback Dan Mahan found Jones on a 20-yard pass for the 38-26 final. 

With spring complete, Duke will conduct fall camp prior to the season opener against Elon on Thursday, August 28 at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Season tickets for the upcoming season may be purchased online at goduke.com/footballtix or by calling the Duke Athletics Ticket Office at 919-681-BLUE (2583). Current season ticket holders will receive communication from their respective account representative.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils football, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “DukeFootball”.

Source: wralsportsfan.com