Monday Morning Recap: Saturday's Second Spring Scrimmage
4/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Saturday afternoon, Stephen F. Austin traded in the purple of Homer Bryce Stadium for the red and white of Marshall High’s Maverick Stadium, holding its second spring scrimmage.
“It was good to get that scrimmage under our belts,” said head coach Clint Conque. “We’re very appreciative of coach Clint Harper and his staff, who were incredibly accommodating. It’s something we look forward to each spring, and it was good to meet so many people up at Marshall High School.”
The annual road scrimmage is something Conque instituted two years ago during his first spring camp as taking the Lumberjacks’ show on the road serves a handful of purposes.
“For what we were trying to get out of this experience, I thought we traveled well,” Conque said. “I thought the players understood the teaching moment we were trying to get across and the mindset that’s required when you’re going into an unfamiliar environment. I want to give props to Buck Payne and his equipment staff and Jeff Smith and our athletic trainers as well. It is always a major undertaking to take your entire camp on the road and they handled it with great professionalism and did a great job.”
The 130-play scrimmage had its fair share of highlights as coach Conque and his staff had an opportunity to review the film and share insights from Saturday:
OFFENSE
• Overview – Coach Conque expressed he was pleased with a number of segments across the board as individual players continued to step up and take advantage of opportunities. One area of disappointment came in the number of penalties and missed assignments throughout the afternoon and the inability to consistently put together productive plays, stating this week’s practices will focus making sure fundamentally the players are where they need to be.
• Quarterbacks – Senior Zach Conque took the majority of the reps once again, completing 16 of his 25 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns, giving him six for the spring season. Redshirt freshman Jake Blumrick saw his first extended playing time, completing 13 of 17 passes for 135 yards and a pair of touchdowns, showing a quick release, accurate passing and good vision across the field.
• Running Backs – Again, SFA’s running game saw limited action due to the implementation of the ‘Jacks’ passing scheme, but a pair of rushers had productive afternoons. Senior Joshawa West rushed 11 times for 65 yards, averaging just shy of six yards per carry, with sophomore Loren Easly rushing 14 times for 48 yards and a touchdown, his second of the spring scrimmage season.
• Wide Receivers – One of Conque’s primary focuses was to get as many receivers significant plays and Saturday’s scrimmage helped fill that goal as 11 different players caught passes. Junior Robert Sylvester had another strong performance, catching five passes for 83 yards and a pair of touchdowns, giving him five TD snags this fall. Junior Judah Jones pulled in four catches on the day, showing his speed and athleticism, with senior Justice Liggins, junior Aaron Piper and redshirt freshman Kiki Hill each making a pair of crucial receptions to extend drives with Conque specifically mentioning the growth of Hill, calling him a “future playmaker.” Redshirt freshman Jonathan Sam pulled in his first touchdown reception from Blumrick, his former Pearland High School quarterback. Conque also mentioned he was impressed by non-scholarship receivers Tae Thomas and Cole Brunett, who had a combined seven receptions and a touchdown each on the afternoon.
• Tight Ends/Fullback – The tight ends and fullbacks continue to get more involved in the new offense as junior Nick Jones had a productive day, catching three passes for 38 yards while sophomore Lucas Askew posted a pair of catches for 30 yards. Senior Jabralon Allen was also mentioned as Conque stated his progression and emerging as a senior leader, catching a pass out of the backfield and becoming increasingly more comfortable with the new offense.
• Offensive Line – Growth across the young offensive line is one of the bright spots for coach Conque, specifically mentioning sophomore Devonte Jones and redshirt freshman A.J. Brown as a pair of youngsters becoming more confident at their positions and grading out well from the coaching staff. But penalties and missed assignments were two things mentioned as areas of concern as spring practices enter their final week.
DEFENSE
• Overview – While a lot of the focus in spring drills focus on the efficiency of the offense, the defense also takes pride in limiting the number of offensive strikes, providing consistent pressure and making the offense uncomfortable. Conque was pleased with the defensive unit continuing to grow and establish confidence, citing the lack of big plays (20+ yards) by the offense on Saturday, a credit to the Lumberjack defensive unit. One area of concern was the number of missed tackles, which did lead to some big plays for the SFA offensive unit.
• Defensive Ends – Arguably the most established position across the board for the Lumberjacks, the SFA defensive ends continued to be a key story as the experience is becoming evident. Redshirt freshman Gary Sampson caught a lot of attention, registering four sacks on the day with six total tackles and was very active throughout the day. Senior Kedrick Harrison and junior John Frankin continue to lead the charge, combining for four sacks and providing consistent pressure throughout the day.
• Defensive Tackles – An area of question mark continues to impress, led by junior Mitchel Zimmerle who Conque described as “disruptive on every play.” Senior Darrell Vanerson, sophomores Demetrion Amie and Lamont Alexander and redshirt freshman Paul Hill continue to get more comfortable and confident with each practice and have provided one of the key bright spots for the Lumberjacks this spring, holding the SFA running game in check.
• Linebackers – Senior Price Miller led the charge once again among the linebacking corps, finishing with six total tackles, as did redshirt freshman Spencer Choka, a player the coaching staff has looked very highly on and Conque referred to as someone who could “really be a big time football player here.” Sophomore Ryan Woods had another strong showing as well, intercepting another pass for his third interception of the spring scrimmage season. Senior George Stone and redshirt freshman Anthony Jacobs each had four tackles as well, providing depth to the position that needs players to step up.
• Cornerbacks – An area that continues to improve and get better as Conque mentioned how pleased he was in their growth. Senior Tre Rosser had a good day at the cornerback position, breaking up a number of potential big plays. Junior Trent Perriman also had his first significant reps in Saturday’s scrimmage and showed some of the flashes that excited the coaching staff in his recruitment.
• Safeties – The highlight of Saturday among the secondaries was redshirt freshman Alize Ward, finishing with eight tackles as Conque and the rest of the defensive coaches continue to have high praise for him and his potential. Senior Zack Starnes registered the second interception of the scrimmage, wrestling away a possible touchdown reception in the endzone and showing his athleticism. Senior Germod Williams and junior Ahmad Muhammad each posted five tackles each, continuing to provide a consistent effort on each snap.
SPECIAL TEAMS
• Overview – One week after expressing his excitement in the kicking game, coach Conque had a slightly different tune after week two following a less-than-ideal performance. While the numbers were good as far as punting, the consistency he was seeking was sporadic while missed field goals in the red zone were cause for concern.
• Kicking Game – Both Caleb Lewallen and Troy Duran had strong punting numbers on the day as Lewallen averaged 40 yards per punt on five attempts with Duran posting a 38 yards average.
LOOKING AHEAD
Stephen F. Austin now heads into the final week of spring practices as it will be a busy one for the Lumberjacks, consisting of four practices leading into the 2016 Spring Game. The ‘Jacks will take to the practice field Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, giving one final chance to work on schemes until fall camp.
“This week we’ll point everything towards polishing what we’ve already installed to this point,” Conque said. “We will work some two minute situations this week, which is the last big piece that I wanted to make sure we addressed in the spring. When you look at the number of close games we had last season, and the number of close games in this conference as a whole, it’s critical that we become efficient in that aspect.”
The capstone of the spring season will take place Saturday, April 16th with the 2016 Spring Game at Homer Bryce Stadium. It will be one of a handful of events that day, including a softball doubleheader against Abilene Christian, a soccer spring Alumni Game and a spring volleyball tournament at Shelton Gym earlier that afternoon. Following the spring game, fans are invited to stick around for a movie night as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will be shown on the brand new HD video board at Homer Bryce. All events are free to the public.
“It should be a very fun Saturday,” Conque said. “We’re looking forward to having a lot of our fans, signees and recruits come watch us in the spring game, and there are a number of other events going on throughout the campus. It will be a heck of a day here in Nacogdoches.”
2016 SFA Spring Football Practice Schedule
Practice Twelve: Wednesday, April 13 - 4 p.m.
Practice Thirteen: Thursday, April 14 - 4 p.m.
Practice Fourteen: Friday, April 15 - 4 p.m.
Spring Game: Saturday, April 16 - 6 p.m. (Homer Bryce Stadium)
All practice dates and times subject to change
-SFA-
