PINE BLUFF -- Silent for about an hour, the Golden Lions' first touchdown of the Cedric Thomas era was loud enough.
Junior quarterback Shannon Patrick lofted a pass and hit junior wide receiver Kolby McNeal in stride for a 62-yard touchdown just 23.6 seconds before halftime in the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff's spring football game Saturday afternoon at Golden Lions Stadium.
Patrick, who transferred from Northland (Minn.) Community College this spring, introduced himself to a UAPB program that was making its debut under Thomas.
"Just overwhelmed," said Thomas, a UAPB alum who played cornerback from 1998-1999. "This is the first time that it just actually hit me that I'm the head coach back at my school. Just seeing the people in the stands that could've been doing anything in the world this Saturday. But they came to fellowship with us as a Golden Lions family, and that was just a blessing. That was the most exciting thing about it."
Patrick's touchdown spurred further excitement, and it was one of two touchdowns in the Black and Gold game that ended in an arbitrary 7-7 tie after three quarters. An undisclosed offensive lineman suffered a minor ankle injury, Thomas said, and he didn't want to risk further injury.
Defense dominated in the opening six drives of the scrimmage, which included six sacks, but then Patrick found McNeal wide open in the middle of the field.
"I put it out there, and he made a hell of a play," said the 6-2, 200-pound Patrick, who was named NJCAA All-America honorable mention after throwing for 4,506 yards, 43 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in 2017. "He did all the work, really."
McNeal caught 15 passes for 177 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2017, when the Golden Lions went 2-9, 1-6 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
UAPB's scoring offense (21 points per game) ranked fifth in the SWAC.
Sophomore Jeremy Brown, who moved from tight end to wide receiver this spring, scored the scrimmage's other touchdown, leaping over a defender in the end zone to haul in a 13-yard score.
Returning senior quarterback Roger Totten II said he saw the secondary drop back in a man defense and that the 6-3, 220-pound Brown had an advantageous match-up with a safety.
"I'm going to take that every time," said Totten, who did not play last season.
Thomas said he will wait until the fall to choose a starting quarterback. That's when incoming freshman David Chapple (North Little Rock High) will join the quarterback battle in UAPB's new Spread offense.
"[Patrick's] just been a pleasant surprise," said Thomas, who was a six-year defensive coordinator at Alcorn State before arriving at UAPB. "Whoever we bring in after him, it's going to be tough to beat him out. And Totten right now is nipping at the heels. I think that'll be a good competition coming into the summer also with the guys that we bring in."
The offense, led by new offensive coordinator Jermaine Gales, operated completely out of the shotgun and frequently used its running backs as receivers.
Senior running back Jamal Gladden caught four swing passes, including a 7-yard reception for a first down in the third quarter.
"I definitely like that part," Gladden said. "We'll be [in an] empty [formation] a lot, too. Catching passes, it's a natural thing. I can do that."
The Golden Lions had their stumbles.
Senior kicker Jamie Gillan, who was named All-SWAC first team in 2017, missed a 42-yard field goal and a 43-yard field goal, and two return men each muffed a punt.
The offense also sputtered at times and failed to score in its only appearance within the defense's 10-yard line.
Patrick completed a 34-yard pass to Brown to set up first and goal, but after three consecutive rushes, Patrick threw an incompletion for a turnover on downs.
College scrimmages most often pit the first-string positions against the second stringers, and so on; but since UAPB didn't have enough players in some areas, it just swapped out certain position groups.
Gladden attributed the circumstance to some of the offensive errors.
"Fatigue got to us," he said.
Thomas complimented a UAPB defense that he said has improved from last season, when it ranked second to last in the SWAC in scoring defense (34.5 points allowed per game).
Senior defensive tackle Kevin Agee, who Thomas said might be the team's best defensive lineman, had two of the team's six sacks. Senior cornerback Shufon Alcorn defended two passes, including a deep, third-down pass that preceded Gillan's first missed field goal.
"Last year, we didn't do as good a job as far as a defensive structure," Thomas said. "A lot of times, we gave up a lot of big plays. We just tried to hone in on that, keep the ball in front of us, and we did a great job of tackling. Those guys played their tails off; but we've got to eliminate those big plays."
The football team will begin summer workouts in July, when the Golden Lions start pursuit of their first winning season since 2012.
"The fight now is just the fight within," Thomas said. "We've got to get them to understand that in the past is just that, in the past. We've got to think like winners, and 'So as a man thinketh, so he becomes.' "
Sports on 04/29/2018