Mississippi State soccer reveals off Blake Shapen, receivers in spring recreation – Clarion Ledger

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State soccer opened the Jeff Lebby period at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday with its annual spring recreation.
It did not take lengthy to see why the Bulldogs employed the previous Oklahoma offensive coordinator in November.
The offense cruised to a 67-53 victory in opposition to the protection with a customized scoring system put into place for either side to put up factors. Whereas the protection held the early benefit, quarterback Blake Shapen shortly flipped momentum in his first motion whereas donning an MSU jersey.
Regardless of solely taking part in within the first half, the Baylor switch accomplished 18 of his 22 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns.
When Mississippi State landed former UTEP receiver Kelly Akharaiyi, it was evident what Lebby was trying so as to add to his offense. After rating fourth within the nation final season with 21.52 yards per catch, the Bulldogs received big-play potential in Akharaiyi.
That was on show in the course of the first-team offense’s third drive.
After the offense fell behind 22-6, Shapen related with Akharaiyi for a 40-yard landing within the first quarter to ignite the offense.
Akharaiyi’s play was complemented by one other switch reverse of him. Former Louisville receiver Kevin Coleman made the primary large play of the competition – on the first-team offense’s second drive − earlier than Akharaiyi’s landing catch.
Nonetheless, he was a cause the protection jumped out to an early lead. Coleman fumbled on the aim line just a few performs after his 43-yard catch.
Mississippi State was with out sophomore receiver Creed Whittemore who was shifting round on a scooter along with his proper ankle taped up. Filling his position within the slot on the first-team offense was freshman Mario Craver.
He’s a part of an thrilling 2024 class of receivers, although he was a late addition. Craver didn’t commit till Dec. 10 after Lebby was employed to switch Zach Arnett. He completed as the very best rated prospect within the class, coming in as a four-star, based on the 247Sports Composite rankings.
He was among the many prime targets for Shapen. On the sport’s opening drive, the 2 almost related on deep landing try. Within the second quarter, Shapen accomplished a 15-yard cross to Craver for a primary down earlier than discovering him on a display screen on the following play.
To open the second half, sophomore quarterback Chris Parson related on a 60-yard cross to Craver for a landing.
Partly as a result of late Mike Leach not using a good finish and final yr’s offense being among the many SEC’s worst, the Bulldogs haven’t had a good finish catch a landing since 2020.
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That’ll seemingly change underneath Lebby.
Justin Ball, a switch tight finish who spent the final 5 years at Vanderbilt, caught a pair of landing passes within the first half – together with a 22-yard reception simply earlier than the break.
Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat author for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or comply with him on the X platform, previously referred to as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.

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