Drones Dominant As Maroon Defeats Orange in Spring Game

By Bradley Winterling

Staff Writer

April 14, 2024

BLACKSBURG — Another impressive crowd showed out to Lane Stadium on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to support its beloved Hokies in the annual spring game. The Maroon team, led by quarterback Kyron Drones, took down the Orange team, 21-14.  

“I can’t start the press conference without thanking our fans,” Tech head coach Brent Pry said to reporters postgame. “It's just fantastic to see everybody come out. You know, the weather broke for us and it was nice and sunny. I don't know what we had, 25–30,000 people out there. Our guys love that. We had 150 recruits and families. They love that.” 

Drones started hot and stayed warm for the entirety of his play on the field Saturday.  

His first pass of the game was a 15-yard completion to Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw. The drive ended up stalling near midfield, but the Maroon squad wound up scoring three consecutive touchdowns after its first possession, all manned by Drones.  

The redshirt junior finished the day 6-of-10 with 122 yards and two touchdown tosses.   

“He [Drones] was [efficient] and we did some things to try to push the ball down the field early,” Tech offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen said. “So we can certainly get into a more high percentage pass game for him which we got into there with a few ‘move the pockets’ and quick game; things like that to get the ball out of his hands. But I was pleased the way he went in and operated–led us all a few touchdown drives in the first quarter and then we were able to get him out.” 

“Oh, it definitely is [thrilling], being in game uniforms, game situations, seeing the crowd, not just the people that come to our practices,” Drones said. “It’s definitely a good feeling. Just seeing everybody support us. And we can’t wait for the whole stadium to be filled up, coming next fall.” 

The running backs had a great day for both teams. Malachi Thomas had three carries for 14 yards, and took a screen pass for a 66-yard gain in the first quarter. Jeremiah Coney also made an impact with 11 carries for 81 yards. Bhayshul Tuten played just three snaps. 

However, the other star of the day for the maroon offense was running back P.J. Prioleau. The redshirt junior from Radford high school had 91 total yards while scoring two touchdowns — one on the ground and one through the air.  

His rushing touchdown was a 31-yard bolt down the left side of the field on a delayed handoff.  

“He reminds me of his dad [Pierson Prioleau] a little bit back in the day to be honest,” Pry said. “He's scrappy, he's quick — kind of twitched up. We've asked him to do everything. You know, he's played it all on scout team for us and bounces around. If we need a wideout, he goes to wideout — if we need a running back, he goes to running back. I think we even tried him in the secondary at some point, so he's just kind of a crafty guy. And he's got a pretty good skill set in a lot of ways. I don't know if anything's elite, but he finds a way, and he's gotten better and better each year. So he's positioned himself [to] where he's got an opportunity to help us.” 

“Yeah, P.J. went crazy today,” Drones said. “I mean, he'd been going crazy all spring, but today it was something special for him. I'm happy for him — getting his opportunity and making the most of it. So, that's all you want from a guy in that situation. He definitely showed what he's capable of and we’re looking forward to coming far with him too.” 

Wide receiver Ali Jennings was back on the field for the first time since his season-ending injury against Purdue in September.  

Transferring from Old Dominion last year, Jennings was poised for a great season with the Hokies, but only started and finished one game. In that game, Jennings pulled in five catches for 72 yards, including two touchdowns. 

The 6-foot-2 wideout had three catches for 45 yards on Saturday for the Orange side. 

“It felt good just to get him [Jennings] back there in a game situation,” Drones said. “I know he's been wanting to play since he got hurt. And I know he's just waiting for our first game against Vanderbilt now so he can go back into a game situation. So I'm really excited for what he can do for us this next upcoming season.” 

“Oh, it was great,” Bowen said. “It's good to see him [Jennings] back in the stadium with confidence and playing ball. He's obviously a big part of what we're doing [and] a big part of leadership in that [receiver] room.” 

The Orange team finally got on the board with 3:15 left in the second quarter when redshirt freshman quarterback Pop Watson III scurried into the endzone on a 6-yard touchdown run.  

Watson and Dylan Wittke have been battling out for the backup quarterback job this spring.  

Wittke was just 5-of-8 on the day with 44 yards, while Watson finished 13-of-21 for 130 yards along with a rushing touchdown and an interception, after the ball was batted up in the air near the line of scrimmage.  

“We'll have to evaluate the film,” Pry said. “Right now, Pop’s got out front a little bit on it. I think it just fell that way that he got some more snaps today based on the team he was on, but you know, it'll be good film for both of those kids.” 

On the defensive side of things, there were 13 total sacks between the two teams on Saturday. The number of quarterback takedowns is hard to make much of with the way that the quarterbacks are protected though.  

“It's always hard to measure sometimes in these particular situations,” Tech defensive coordinator Chris Marve said. “One, because the whistle sometimes is quick versus the quarterback. And you know, when you get in these situations, you just never know if we can get them down in a real-life, game situation. However, we were pretty close most of those times, each one that I saw, and so it excites you, certainly. But also, it's not just about getting sacks and getting TFLs. That creates mayhem. That gets offenses behind schedule.  

“… And so that was good to see. Still a lot of work to be done. A lot of growth to be had. But I think we’re inching towards where we need to go.” 

Keyshawn Burgos had three of those sacks — along with a fumble recovery — and the tipped ball that led to Kemari Copeland’s interception. 

“Burgos doesn't need [a pep talk] man,” Marve said. “He is a self-starter. He's been somebody who is really focused on his game and fundamentals this offseason. And he's taken the coaching, you know, I think he's growing up a little bit. He’s better with his eyes, better with his overall technique, and it’s showing up on tape.  

“He's certainly a gifted athlete. He's just got some things you can't coach–the way he can contort his body, his speed to size ratio. I mean, he's a special player, but it’s the small things in the details of his game that really helped him show up this spring. And what you guys saw today, we've been saying for a month and a half.” 

James Jennette was another bright spot on the defensive side of the ball for the maroon team, notching five tackles with three tackles for loss and a sack.  

Some other notable performances on defense were freshman corner Joshua Clarke with an interception and four tackles, Jason Abbey and Stephon Hicks with two sacks each and Thomas Williams with five tackles.  

The Hokies now look forward to moving onto the next phase of the offseason — and eventually playing in Lane Stadium once again this upcoming fall in front of a packed house.  

“I couldn't be more excited,” Pry said. “Every time I get excited, then caution kind of creeps in. You realize we've got all summer, and a ton of things we have to get done. We've got all camp [and there are] a ton of things we have to get done.  

“I love that we know more about our team, more about more guys [and] what we're going to get. That proved true this spring. You know, the guys that finished strong, they had good springs. It's just getting this next group [to] kind of be ready to play, and we're making strides there.”