South Alabama’s offense got off to a faster start in the second and final scrimmage of the spring Friday at Hancock Whitney Stadium, though the defense quickly regained momentum and held it for most of the day.

The first-team offense needed only four plays to score on the scrimmage’s first series, culminating in Carter Bradley’s 46-yard pass to Caullin Lacy. The drive took just four plays to go 75 yards, with Bradley completing all three of his pass attempts for 71 yards.

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That would be the last offensive touchdown of the 59-play regular period, however, as the Jaguars’ defense — both the first and second teams — put the clamps down. Three other touchdowns came in the 21-play red zone “lockout” period that ends each scrimmage.

“The plan was to get off to a better start this week, keep our composure throughout the whole (scrimmage),” Bradley said. “The competitiveness of this team, I think you saw that there. These guys have got fight on both sides of the ball, so I can’t be more proud than I am today.”

Based on unofficial stats compiled by AL.com, the South Alabama offense gained 288 yards in 80 plays. The defense totaled six non-contact “touch” sacks, eight tackles for loss and four pass breakups, but managed just one takeaway — Logan Lewis’ forced fumble and Reggie Neely’s recovery on a fourth-down play.

Overall, it was an energetic scrimmage despite the 8:45 a.m. start time. There was plenty of jawing back and forth between the offense and defense after nearly every big play.

“We talk about the swagger, the energy that you want to play with, creating your own energy on the sideline when somebody makes a play,” head coach Kane Wommack said. “That’s been a point of emphasis, and you’re certainly seeing that. … But there’s a fine line with how you operate, you have to play with that edge and not go past the line. … I would rather say ‘whoa’ than ‘go,’ so that’s a positive. I think the energy of our team, the swagger of our team, is continuing to elevate.”

After the opening drive resulted in the Bradley-to-Lacy touchdown pass, the first- and second-team offenses went 11 consecutive possessions without scoring. One drive got as far as the 5-yard line before fizzling out.

Bradley, playing exclusively with the first-team offense against the first-team defense, completed 15 of 27 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown. Desmond Trotter, back this week after missing last Friday’s scrimmage to attend a funeral, was good on 7 of 11 passes for 38 yards and a score working mostly with the second team.

Freshman Gio Lopez also worked with the second team, completing 1 of 4 passes for 7 yards. Tanner McGee ran one series with the third team, connecting on his only pass attempt for four yards.

“We had a good day, better than last week,” Lacy said. “We wanted to come out strong, execute and do things the right way. … On that first play, it just opened up for me. I just had to run my route and play fast today.”

The offense “won” the red zone period 18-6, with the ball placed on the 20 and the offense getting six points for a touchdown and the defense six points for a stop. Touchdowns came on a 1-yard run by Kentrel Bullock, a 1-yard pass from Trotter to Jeremiah Webb (on fourth down) and a 1-yard run by Jonathan Carter.

The first-team defense got a stop on the third red-zone possession, thanks a fourth-down dropped pass. Carter’s 1-yard touchdown run ended the scrimmage on the ensuing series.

Brock Higdon and Jamie Sheriff had two sacks each for the defense, while Sheriff also broke up a pass. Ed Smith and Blayne Myrick also added sacks, plus another tackle-for-loss each.

Keith Gallmon, Jamall Hickbottom and Dallas Gamble also had pass break-ups in addition to Sheriff. Lewis and Neely combined for the lone takeaway of the day.

“I feel like defensively, we dominated throughout the whole practice, but we fell short when it came to the red zone,” Smith said. “We played with a lot of energy, ran to the ball, flying around, played to our identity — ball, fast, physical.”

Lacy caught two passes for 60 yards including his touchdown, while Jamaal Pritchett had three grabs for 41, Devin Voisin 3 for 26 and DJ Thomas-Jones 3 for 23. The Jaguars ran for just 37 yards as a team, 27 of that on nine carries by Carter.

The scrimmage featured only three penalties, despite all the “chippy-ness” from both sides. Wommack said that the intensity level has been high, even as spring practice begins to wind down.

“They love to compete against each other,” Wommack said. “I think some of it is, when you get in these simulations of game day, it just elevates the intensity of everybody around. I think we saw some of that. The other piece of it is, they’re always going against each other, so if you don’t bring your own energy or your own juice, you’re going to have a pretty stale practice.”

A number of South Alabama players sat out of Friday’s scrimmage due to nagging injuries or while continuing to recover from offseason surgery. Among those starters or key rotation players who did not participate were running backs La’Damian Webb and Braylon McReynolds, wide receiver Javon Ivory, offensive lineman Dontae Lucas, linebackers Quentin Wilfawn, Ke’Shun Brown and James Miller and safety Jaden Voisin (none of the injuries are considered long-term).

South Alabama takes the Easter weekend off before returning to the practice field Monday. The annual Red-White scrimmage is set for 10:30 a.m. on April 15 at Hancock Whitney Stadium.