Quarterback Perry Hills hands the ball off to running back Joe Riddle during the Terps’ spring game on April 11, 2015 at Byrd Stadium.
Perry Hills was under pressure toward the end of the first half Saturday of the Terrapins football team’s Spring Game. So as defenders closed in on the junior quarterback, Hills scrambled out of the pocket and lofted a pass to wide receiver Marcus Leak along the left side of the end zone.
Leak leapt in the air, snatching the pass away from defensive back Jarrett Ross while falling to the ground. The 28-yard touchdown, which gave the Red Team a 21-7 advantage Saturday afternoon, marked the third time Hills and Leak connected for a score in the first half.
Leak didn’t record a catch in the second half, but his six receptions for 132 yards and three touchdowns through the first two quarters powered the Red Team — which was compromised of the second team offense and first team defense — to a 21-16 victory over the White Team at Byrd Stadium.
While quarterback Shane Cockerille, who played with the first team offense on the White Team, failed to develop a rapport with any of his receivers, Leak and Hills grabbed the spotlight.
“I told Markus, ‘Let’s go back to my true freshman year; let’s do what we did then,” Hills said.
As a slew of quarterback injuries pushed Hills into the starting role in 2012, Leak emerged as a promising option down field. He started in the team’s first seven games, compiling 23 catches and 393 yards before missing the rest of the season with an injury.
After sitting out the 2013 campaign due to personal reasons, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native slid into a reserve role last year, hauling in 20 catches for 297 yards while wide receivers Deon Long and Stefon Diggs combined for 113 of the team’s 228 receptions.
With Diggs and Long gone, though, coach Randy Edsall will need to look elsewhere for go-to receivers in 2014. Saturday, Leak made his case for a bigger role.
“[For Marcus], it’s just a matter of being consistent and doing all the little things right on and off the field,” Edsall said. “If he does those things, then he’s got a chance. But if he doesn’t, he just an average guy.”
Hills wasted little time looking for Leak. On the Red Team’s first possession, the redshirt junior delivered a pass over the middle, and Leak shook off several defenders for a 26-yard score.
“Towards the end of the spring, you start gelling together, and just want to keep that throughout the offseason in summer workouts,” Leak said. “So when you come back to camp, you just want to keep improving every day.”
While Leak and Hills enjoyed success, Cockerille finished 5-for-20 with 91 yards and one interception. Defensive lineman Yannick Ngakoue pressured him throughout the contest and recorded three sacks.
Kicker Brad Craddock provided the White Team’s only points in the first half, connecting on a 50-yarder with the wind. But after the Red Team took a 21-7 lead into the break, running back Brandon Ross, who finished with 102 yards on 13 carries, helped trim the deficit.
Early in the third quarter, he took a handoff from Cockerille and sprinted untouched along the right sideline into the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 21-10. Then in the fourth quarter, running back Kenneth Goins Jr. scampered past the defense for a three-yard score.
But Leak’s big first half provided too much to overcome.
Byrd Stadium was mostly empty, and all of the players congregated in the same locker room after the game. But in the team’s only organized contest for another five months, Leak emerged as the star.
“When your number’s called, you want to make a play,” Leak said. “That’s what I did today.”
