Eagles Participate in Second Day of ?Two-a-Days’
Georgia Southern prepares for upcoming scrimmage.
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern went through a second day of ?two-a-day’ practices on Thursday, going for two hours in the morning then through an afternoon session that lasted around two hours.
An overcast morning with temperatures in the upper 70s provided a cooler than normal setting at the start. However, temperatures and the humidity rose as the morning drew on. The team went through several live drills including: offense versus defense, punt versus punt block and extra point/field goal attempts.
During the hot and humid afternoon session at Paulson Stadium, the coaches turned up the music over the loudspeakers to simulate crowd noise. The Eagles, wearing just helmets and shoulder pads, participated in pass skeleton drills, onside kick coverage and return in addition to offense versus defense team drills.
QUARTERBACK POSITION THINS OUT: After starting fall camp with seven quarterbacks, head coach Mike Sewak thinned out the ranks. True freshman Randrick Coggins moved to cornerback while redshirt-freshman Melvin Greer stayed in the backfield, switching to slotback. Greer was voted as the scout team ?Offensive Player of the Year’ last season. Fred Bussey, who at 6-1 and 225 pounds would have been one of the biggest players in Eagle history to line up under center, moved to outside linebacker. That leaves Jayson Foster and Darius Smiley in addition to the two true freshmen Ri’Chard Davis and Chris Griffin calling the signals. Foster has mainly been running with the starting unit while Smiley has been with the ?2s’ and Griffin with the third-string.
OTHER MOVES: Damon Suggs, noted by head coach Mike Sewak for his play during the morning session, moved from the offensive line to defensive line.
PLAYER NOTES: Junior college transfer Domiano English quit the team due to personal reasons. He was replaced on the 90-man roster by redshirt-freshman kicker Patrick Bolen... Dedrick Bynam picked off a couple of passes on the day during offense versus defense drills... Lionel McGriff broke open a long run down the left sideline during the morning session while Marquice Maynard and Lance Turner both had long runs during the afternoon practice... Shaheen Solomon and Jason Earwood both suffered a concussion and are listed day-to-day... Travlis Sims suffered an ankle sprain and will be reevaluated later this week... Jermaine Austin had a mild hamstring but is expected to practice on Friday... Jayson Foster directed the offense to a touchdown during a 2-minute drill. One of Bynam’s interceptions came on the goal line later that drill... Rico Zackery, who during the morning practice injured his ribs, made a diving catch to intercept a pass... Foster connected with Richard Murphey and Raja Andrews on long pass plays.
SCRIMMAGE TIME SET: Saturday’s scrimmage will be held at 3:30 p.m. Saturday is the third ?two-a-day’ practice day as the team will conduct drills earlier that morning. Georgia Southern has scheduled a scrimmage on the 13th, Saturday the 20th (9:30 a.m.) and Friday the 26th (3:30 p.m.). All scrimmages will be held at Paulson Stadium.
QUOTING SEWAK: “I’ve been really pleased, considering our numbers, with the freshmen. They’ve shown a lot of maturity. I think the twelve that were here through the summer certainly showed the others which way to go... I’ve got a feeling this team has a little something about them. We’ve gone four straight days where the entire team has not missed anything (weigh-ins, treatments, etc.). To me, that responsibility and accountability are traits of a mature team.”
FURMAN PREPARES FOR FULL CONTACT WORK FRIDAY
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman Paladins went through their final practice in shorts, shoulder pads, and helmets Thursday in preparation for the squad’s first work in full pads Friday afternoon.
“We covered a lot of areas, including punt block and punt return teams,” said head coach Bobby Lamb, whose squad will work out in full gear on Friday at 3:15 p.m. “We put in another defensive front, worked on the bootleg pass, and inserted a couple of more running plays. I like what I saw out there.”
Lamb tabbed his linebacking corps for its strong work in Thursday’s two-hour practice session.
“William Freeman, Clifton Dortch, Gary Nelson and Andrew Jones ? those four guys are going to play a lot of football for us this year. William is a lock at middle linebacker, but the other three are competing for two starting jobs, but I can tell you they are all going to play.”
Freeman, an All-America selection in 2004 and reigning SoCon Defensive Player-of-the-Year, led Furman with 100 tackles a year ago. Dortch, Nelson, and Jones ? all rising sophomores ? tallied 26, 22, and 53 tackles, respectively, in 2004.
Lamb also cited the strong work of defensive tackle Wallace Artis in Thursday’s practice. A rising sophomore, the Calhoun Falls product is considered a major key along the Paladin defensive front.
“Wallace is getting better and better and could really be a big plus for us.”
Artis’ move from defensive end to tackle has led to increased competition at the vacated end slot. Among the top candidates, according to Lamb, are Jay Jay Mars, Hugh Williamson, and B.J. Williams.
“We need somebody to step up there (at end). Sam Pitts had been looking pretty good, but he banged up his knee today. Right now we don’t know how long he will be out.”