“We stepped up; we (rose) to the challenge,” said junior linebacker Denicos Allen, who played for the White team. “Our coaches challenged us to make this a no-scoring game, but we gave up two points, but I think we did pretty well overall as a defensive until, both Green and White.”

Ironically enough, the two points the White team surrendered came from a defensive play when junior defensive end William Gholston tackled sophomore running back Nick Hill in the end zone for a safety.

For the Green team, Gholston finished the day with two tackles for a loss of nine yards and a pass break up, while fellow junior defensive end Jeremy Gainer had two tackles for a 10-yard loss and a sack for a loss of eight.

Similarly, the White team also had its defensive ends lead the way as sophomore Marcus Rush posted five tackles — three for a loss of 23 yards — and 2.5 sacks for a loss of 18 yards.

“We got a lot better on a lot of our blitzes, a lot of our coverage,” Allen said. “We’ve improved on a lot throughout practice, and we’re just doing a better job at it than we did last year, so I think that’s a good sign for the defense.”

Head coach Mark Dantonio noted the Spartans’ experienced front seven showed Saturday at Spartan Stadium with the depth at defensive end and the strength of the linebackers. Allen led both teams’ defenses with seven tackles — one solo and six assisted — and got credit for .5 of a sack for a loss of four yards.

“Linebackers I thought played pretty well,” Dantonio said. “You think the ball is going to break down, and all of a sudden, everything is closed up quickly. So they were running and hitting, and the hitting was very good out there from where I was standing.”

Hill breaks through
With senior running back Larry Caper getting dinged up early in the game and MSU limiting junior Le’Veon Bell’s carries, Hill stepped in playing for both teams. He finished with five carries for 19 yards on the Green team and 14-for-76 and a touchdown for the White team.

“My body is pretty beat up right now,” Hill said. “I haven’t gotten that many carries since high school, but it was just a great experience getting that many carries out there and showing everyone what I (can do).”

His touchdown came in the third quarter when he broke out of a pile of players and said he saw an opening and jumped at the opportunity to break away for the 32-yard score.

“All I just remember is that I was bouncing off of guys, I saw a hole and I took it,” he said. “Some guys told me that I went underneath (Gholston), and it resulted in a touchdown.”

Ray’s growth
Senior offensive guard Arthur Ray Jr. arguably saw more plays Saturday than he did during the entire 2011-12 season, and Dantonio said he’s ready to evaluate Ray to try and determine what kind of role he’ll have in the upcoming season.

“He knows what to do,” Dantonio said. “He’s extremely tough, he’s firm at the point of attack, but you’ve got to watch him and evaluate him.”

Ray returned to the football field in 2011 after a four-year battle with cancer. Despite seeing limited action last season, Dantonio said Ray has improved, and although he wants him to get on the field, Dantonio doesn’t know where he’ll fit in.

“There’s no question that he is 100 percent farther along than he was at this time last year, it’s just, how far can this take him relative to who he’s got to play against?” Dantonio said.