Bradenton Christian offense shines after injuries modify spring game

The third play of Friday’s spring classic at Dan van der Kooy Field left Hilton Lamprecht staring down the field at a group of blanketed receivers. As he searched for a target, Win Spencer barrelled toward the Ocoee Legacy Charter quarterback.

Spencer, who was making his first appearance as an outside linebacker for Bradenton Christian after playing defensive back last year, grabbed Lamprecht and pulled the rising senior to the ground to knock the ball loose. Lamprecht started to scream as his ankle rolled under the weight of Spencer’s body. A 20-minute delay followed to get Lamprecht off the field and figure out what would happen next. Legacy Charter only dressed 11 players in Bradenton.

“It’s disappointing to not be able to come out and play a full game,” linebacker Brett Gerber said, “but we’ve been where they are.”

The full scrimmage, which was originally scheduled for one half of running clock, lasted three plays before the Panthers and Legacy Charter moved to three possessions each of 7-on-7, and then 1-on-1 blocking drills. During the 7-on-7 portion, BCS displayed its reasons for optimism, scoring on all three of its possessions to beat Legacy, 21-7.

Bradenton Christian took the ball first starting at its 30-yard line. Quarterback Dominick Otteni underthrew Gerber on the Panthers’ first play, then he looked to Kevin Etienne on the left sideline. The wide receiver blew by his defender on the second play from scrimmage and Otteni floated a pass beyond the cornerback and safety. Etienne cruised under the pass for an easy 70-yard touchdown to put BCS up 7-0.

“We felt confident,” said Gerber, who also participated in blocking drills. “We’ve got a lot of playmakers that are coming back and that are growing with us, and they’ve still got years to go. We’re still a young team, but we’ve got a lot of guys that are going to go out and make plays, and I’m excited to play with this group.”

Etienne snared another touchdown pass between double coverage on a goal-line fade two possessions later to give Bradenton Christian a 21-0 lead during 7-on-7 to finish the scrimmage with three catches for 91 yards, and Otteni completed 10-of-13 passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns.

“I was happy to see all of our kids get to run around a little bit, obviously not under the circumstances we wanted it to be,” head coach Allan Gerber said. “I think we’ve got a couple nice puzzle pieces.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Bradenton Christian offense shines after injuries modify spring game."