Defense wins day at Monmouth football scrimmage showcase & 3 more takeaways

WEST LONG BRANCH -- Spring practices are not the first chapter in a football season, they're more like a prologue. It is a time for experimentation and re-dedication to the process that ultimately leads to wins on Saturdays, even with game action still several months away. It's also introspective—competing against one's self—in principle at individual and team levels.

The final day of the mid-offseason practices, in Monmouth's case the Spring Showcase scrimmage on Sunday, can be the closest to full-speed action that a team's training can get. And for the Hawk defense, it was the opportunity to finally shift into gear. There was little doubt about which side won more reps through the various 11-on-11 sessions at Kessler Field on Sunday.

From the first play, the defense had the look of a bull ready to buck in any and every direction. That's to be expected with seven returning starters, but some of the most impressive standouts were rising players like redshirt freshman Mounir Keshen. "Being versatile is just one of our biggest strengths.

I feel like we have guys that can play anywhere," Keshen said. "We have a linebacker who can play maybe at safety or corner, or we can have a (defensive) end that can play linebacker. So I just think the versatility is definitely one of our biggest strengths.