Four things to know after Savannah State's spring football scrimmage

Aaron Kelton is preparing for his second season as the Savannah State football coach, and he led the Tigers through spring practices recently — culminating in an intra-squad scrimmage Saturday.

Kelton was hired last April replacing Shawn Quinn, who took an assistant coaching job at Virginia Tech. Kelton was chosen over three other finalists for the position, including Russell DeMasi, who was a co-head coach and co-offensive coordinator before taking over for Quinn on an interim basis. After a year as the offensive coordinator at Calvary Day, DeMasi is back in the college coaching ranks as the offensive coordinator at Wayne State.

Kelton, who has more than 30 years of college coaching experience, led SSU to a strong finish last season as the Tigers closed out with wins over Fort Valley State and Lane College to finish the year with a 5-5 record.

Aaron Kelton hired as SSU football coach Savannah State selects former Howard University coach to replace Shawn Quinn as head coach

Russell DeMasi hired as OC at Wayne St. Calvary's Russell DeMasi, a former SSU assistant, is back coaching football on college stage

SSU's Frazier wins battle with cancer Joined by his Savannah State teammates, Kyle Frazier to be recognized on ’Monday Night Football’ for winning his battle with cancer

"We started out slow last season because of the newness of the staff with the players and learning what we needed to do, and then started to trust and believe in each other and care about what we're doing and put in that extra work," said Kelton, who was a defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Howard University before taking the job at SSU. "That helped us down the stretch — I felt like we were playing the best football of any team in our conference at the end of the year. We're just trying to build on that.

"Our goal is always to win all of our football games, to have one more point than the other team. But it's about doing it the right way, making sure our guys are successful in classroom and having a great experience.

I feel like going into this season, we keep our head down and be about the work of improving on what we did last fall."

Here's four things to know about the SSU program coming out of the spring scrimmage.

1. Jadon Adams in driver's seat to win Savannah State quarterback job

Jadon Adams, the former Islands High School star, got a lot of playing time as a freshman and looked strong in the scrimmage, Kelton said. Last season, Adams showed his was a talented dual threat behind center as he passed for 566 yards with eight touchdowns and six interceptions, while running for a team-high 545 yards and seven scores.

"Jadon did a good job controlling the ball. He's a competitor, a smart player who knows his limitations and tries to keep himself in a situation that's a positive for the team and himself," Kelton said. "I love his competitive edge and he's also a really good leader and a great kid to be around.

"You've got to earn it but he's the No. 1 guy right now. He's definitely they guy were looking to have at the front of the program. But we start all over when we come back for camp."

2. Offensive line looking strong

Kelton said the offensive line was one of the top units in the spring scrimmage. He said the veteran crew was getting the job done and he thinks it will be a strength of the team once the season gets rolling.

Rising junior Riyon Adams, a 6-foot-1, 300-pounder out of Vidalia High, Steven Wakefield, a rising junior at 6-2 and 280 pounds from Cedar Shoals High in Athens and Kyle Frazier (6-3, 300 pounds), another rising junior from Augusta's Glenn Hills High were all singled out for their strong performances by Kelton.

3. Brent Carr shows big play ability

Brent Carr, the rising senior receiver out of West Laurens High in Warner Robins, was a standout in the scrimmage — making several impressive catches and showing his play-making ability, Kelton said.

Last season, Carr led the Tigers with six touchdown receptions — he had 21 catches for 260 yards, and figures to be one of the main men in the passing game once again in the fall.

4. Linebacker crew looking solid

Kelton said defensively, the linebacker unit stood out in Saturday's scrimmage. The group includes rising sophomore Tavare Brewton out of Islands High, who led the team with 66 tackles last season, and Gary Davis, a rising sophomore out of Cairo High, who saw limited action last season.

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Aaron Kelton talks Savannah State football spring scrimmage