University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
GoHeels Exclusive: Scrimmage Notes
April 17, 2018 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
The North Carolina football team closed out spring practice on Monday, two days after holding the last of its NCAA-allotted three scrimmages at Kenan Stadium.
Here are a few notes from the scrimmage:
Play of the day
The offense struggled to build much momentum early in the day before rising junior quarterback Nathan Elliott provided a spark.
Dazz Newsome opened the fifth offensive possession, which began on the defense's 26-yard line, with a 4-yard run. After an incomplete pass on second  down, Elliott kept the ball and scampered for a 22-yard touchdown.
Three who stood out
Michael Carter: After recently saying he's been working on his top-end speed this offseason, Carter appeared to find an extra gear on a 31-yard touchdown run. He showed some patience before cutting up the middle and going untouched on his way to the end zone.
Elliott: In addition to his 22-yard touchdown run, Elliott made a few nice throws. Among those, he found Anthony Ratliff-Williams for a 12-yard completion along the sideline and later connected with Newsome for 38 yards.
Javonte Williams: Williams, an early enrollee tailback, scored two touchdowns. The first came when he trucked a defender on his way to a 21-yard score. He later added a 4-yard touchdown run during a goal-to-go situation.Â
Other observations
• Larry Fedora said last week that Aaron Crawford has had the best spring of any Tar Heel. And Crawford certainly finished the spring strong Saturday. He was a disruptive force in the middle of the defense on multiple plays, most notably a 2-yard tackle for loss on the third possession.
• Allen Cater, Jake Lawler and Jason Strowbridge also worked their way into the offensive backfield on a few plays.
• Zach Goins scored the lone defensive touchdown of the day when he returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown.
• Chazz Surratt quarterbacked the offense on the final two-minute drill, quickly leading it from its own 33-yard line to the defense's 24 to set up a field goal attempt.
• Jace Ruder, the No. 12 dual-threat quarterback in the Class of 2018 according to Rivals.com, showed on multiple plays why he can be dangerous as a runner. Two of his carries went for 13 and 15 yards. On the latter, he might have scored what would have been a 70-yard touchdown if the whistle wasn't blown to protect him from the last defender.
• Ratliff-Williams and K.J. Sails lined up against each other throughout most of Saturday's scrimmage, leading to several entertaining exchanges. Most notably, during the final two-minute drill of the day, Sails forced an incompletion along the sideline and chirped some at Ratliff-Williams. Two plays later, Ratliff-Williams caught a pass and stiff-armed Sails to the ground on his way to a 10-yard gain.
Â
The North Carolina football team closed out spring practice on Monday, two days after holding the last of its NCAA-allotted three scrimmages at Kenan Stadium.
Here are a few notes from the scrimmage:
Play of the day
The offense struggled to build much momentum early in the day before rising junior quarterback Nathan Elliott provided a spark.
Dazz Newsome opened the fifth offensive possession, which began on the defense's 26-yard line, with a 4-yard run. After an incomplete pass on second  down, Elliott kept the ball and scampered for a 22-yard touchdown.
Three who stood out
Michael Carter: After recently saying he's been working on his top-end speed this offseason, Carter appeared to find an extra gear on a 31-yard touchdown run. He showed some patience before cutting up the middle and going untouched on his way to the end zone.
Elliott: In addition to his 22-yard touchdown run, Elliott made a few nice throws. Among those, he found Anthony Ratliff-Williams for a 12-yard completion along the sideline and later connected with Newsome for 38 yards.
Javonte Williams: Williams, an early enrollee tailback, scored two touchdowns. The first came when he trucked a defender on his way to a 21-yard score. He later added a 4-yard touchdown run during a goal-to-go situation.Â
Other observations
• Larry Fedora said last week that Aaron Crawford has had the best spring of any Tar Heel. And Crawford certainly finished the spring strong Saturday. He was a disruptive force in the middle of the defense on multiple plays, most notably a 2-yard tackle for loss on the third possession.
• Allen Cater, Jake Lawler and Jason Strowbridge also worked their way into the offensive backfield on a few plays.
• Zach Goins scored the lone defensive touchdown of the day when he returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown.
• Chazz Surratt quarterbacked the offense on the final two-minute drill, quickly leading it from its own 33-yard line to the defense's 24 to set up a field goal attempt.
• Jace Ruder, the No. 12 dual-threat quarterback in the Class of 2018 according to Rivals.com, showed on multiple plays why he can be dangerous as a runner. Two of his carries went for 13 and 15 yards. On the latter, he might have scored what would have been a 70-yard touchdown if the whistle wasn't blown to protect him from the last defender.
• Ratliff-Williams and K.J. Sails lined up against each other throughout most of Saturday's scrimmage, leading to several entertaining exchanges. Most notably, during the final two-minute drill of the day, Sails forced an incompletion along the sideline and chirped some at Ratliff-Williams. Two plays later, Ratliff-Williams caught a pass and stiff-armed Sails to the ground on his way to a 10-yard gain.
Â
Players Mentioned
Tailback
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Defensive End
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Defensive Tackle
/ Football
Quarterback
/ Football
Cornerback
/ Football
Defensive End
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Quarterback
/ Football
Cornerback
/ Football
Defensive Line
/ Football
Quarterback
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