MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois defense came out ahead in the team's second full-scale scrimmage, held Saturday in ideal conditions to cap the midway point of spring football.

The scrimmage consisted of 10 six-play sets, alternating between the first and second teams. Each unit began a set of plays starting from the -40, +25, -10, +20 and 50-yard lines.

"You would have to say the defense won today," said head coach Don Patterson. "Offensively we improved on our penalties, but we exposed some turnover issues today that have to be resolved. The defense kept us from making big plays today."

The offense managed two of its six first downs during the initial drive, one a 14-yard pass from Matt Barr to Carl Sims on the very first play from scrimmage, and the other a third-and-eight conversion when Zack Wells completed a nine-yard pass to Herb Donaldson. The 14-yard completion proved to be the longest play of the day and the only play that went for more than nine yards.

"One of the areas where we needed improvement, compared to the last scrimmage, was limiting the big play," said defensive coordinator Thomas Casey. "I thought our guys did an excellent job of keeping the ball in front of them and making open field tackles today. I was especially pleased with our secondary's effort. They saw a bunch of short routes that forced them to make plays on the perimeter."

Barr and Wells combined to open the scrimmage with three pass completions, but the defense then contributed to a 6-for-17 effort in the air the remainder of the day. All three quarterbacks saw time with the first string, while Wells and Justin Brown split time with the twos.

"We have been creating the mindset of winning on first and third downs," continued Casey. "We were able to limit the offense on first down to an average of two yards per play and 2.5 yards on third down."

Additional defensive stats include two sacks, three tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and a third-down conversion rate of .214 (3 of 14).

"There wasn't much variation in what we did today on defense," said Casey. "There are still a few things that we need to evaluate with our scheme before we finish. We are progressing but need to make bigger strides in our improvement with the seven practices we have left."

Donaldson opened the scrimmage as the starting running back, but carried the ball just seven times for nine yards, mainly in the first half of the day. Dre Gibbs then took over with the first team, rushing eight times for 21 yards, 20 of which came on five consecutive carries that resulted in a touchdown during the fourth set. Brandon Heard, however, received the majority of the carries today, rushing 10 times for 31 yards. He and Rico Thomas also saw a number of snaps with the first unit.

The defense reached the end zone on the third set of plays, which began with the offense backed up to their own 10-yard line. On the second play of the set, defensive lineman Clinton Barley picked up a botched snap and advanced it five yards before fumbling. Linebacker Anthony D'Astice then fell on the loose ball in the end zone for what was ruled a touchdown by the officials. Later, in the film room, it was ruled that the ground caused Barley's fumble, thus ending the play at the five-yard line.

The Leathernecks have two full weeks of practice remaining. They are not planning to hold a practice next Saturday, April 12, but will host the annual Bruce Craddock Memorial Spring Game at 1:05 p.m. Saturday, April 19.