Photo by: SFA Athletics
2017 SFA Football Fall Camp Report: Safeties
8/5/2017 8:30:00 PM | Football
The ‘Jacks strapped on shoulder pads Saturday afternoon for the first time of fall camp as SFA football completed its third preseason practice
The 2017 Stephen F. Austin football season is just around the corner and the Lumberjacks have begun fall camp, beginning the countdown to the 91st season of Lumberjack football in Nacogdoches. Throughout camp, SFAJacks.com will break down each position, today highlighting the safeties.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin football team strapped on shoulder pads for the first time of fall camp Saturday afternoon as the Lumberjacks took to the grass practice fields for the final time this week. The purple and white showed more physicality in the third practice of preseason camp with the shoulder pads on and had their best practice as of yet.
Head coach Clint Conque praised the team for their energy, enthusiasm and discipline during the post-practice team huddle. Despite temperatures in the mid-90's, the two fields seemed to be electric with excitement from the start of practice. That energy was magnified even more early in the practice when the entire team gathered for the cave drill, where defensive players line up head-to-head against offensive players and go one-on-one. The offense seemed to grab the upper hand in the drill after two offensive linemen forcibly put their counterparts on the ground, causing the entire offense to cheer in an exuberant manner.
Practice continued with up-tempo 11-on-11 drives, before breaking out into positional drills. The SFA coaching staff continued their installment of the 'Jacks' playbook, gathering selected defensive and offensive units to line up in game-like situations.
The entire team came together on the main field for full 11-on-11 scrimmages to close out the football portion of practice, before taking off shoulder pads and helmets to wrap up the late afternoon with sprints.
Safeties
One of the deepest positions across the field for the 'Jacks, the SFA safeties are also one of the youngest groups as a handful of underclassmen will have opportunities to make their presence felt. A total of 12 safeties occupy the roster but with only one senior and two juniors, the 'Jacks will look for additional support from five sophomores and four freshmen. SFA returns six from a year ago, including five letter winners, and welcomes a total of six newcomers to this season's squad, including three transfers. The safety core will look to continue the production from 2016 which, along with the cornerbacks, combined to produce nine interceptions and six fumble recoveries.
The clear leader of the group is Marlon Walls, the lone senior among the position. Walls is coming off his best year as a Lumberjack and is the team's top returning tackler, finishing with 62 total tackles and a team-best 37 solo stops a season ago. As SFA football's first-ever first team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American, Walls continues to emerge as one of SFA's top leaders both on and off the field. The 2016 Southland Conference Football Student-Athlete of the Year and FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star was a finalist for the FCS Doris Robinson Scholar Athlete of the Year Award and was nominated for a spot on the Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team earlier this summer.
"Marlon does things right", first-year assistant coach Ben Beasley, who works with the SFA safeties, said. "The thing about Marlon is when he comes to work, he works. He's one of those guys who is constantly locked in and he does all the extra stuff that you look for in a player. To balance that with his academics is something special."
Junior Lawrence Ghansah is coming off his best season in a Lumberjack uniform, while sophomores Alize Ward and Trey Ramos both were key contributors as freshmen last season and helped cement their positions with strong spring performances. Ghansah played in all 11 games in 2016, registering 29 total tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss. Ward ranked fourth on the team in tackles last season with 59 and also played in all 11 games, earning seven starts en route to being named All-Southland honorable mention. Ramos came on strong over the last half of the season, finishing with 16 tackles and a fumble recovery playing both defensively and on special teams.
SFA also has a pair of returners in sophomore Hunter Cabral and redshirt freshman Paten Snell that have with the program and are familiar with the playbook. Cabral played in five games in 2016, mostly on special teams, while Snell spent his redshirt season with the quarterbacks before making the transition to the defensive secondary this spring.
The 'Jacks have a handful of young players eager to make a name for themselves in the fall. Transfer Andre Wiley (Texarkana, Texas) from the Navy Preparatory Academy participated in spring workouts and will have four years of eligibility remaining, while sophomore Norman Reeves (San Antonio, Texas) and junior Jai Edwards (Humble, Texas) joined the program in the summer from Blinn College and will get their first exposure to the program. SFA also welcomes high school signees Trenton Gordon (Rowlett, Texas), Javon McInnis (Irving, Texas) and Gavin Roland (League City, Texas).
"We're fairly young but progressing really well", Coach Beasley commented after today's practice. "The advantage that we had with the young guys was having those guys here all summer, we were able to meet with them and get our install in early so this is a little bit of a review. It gets a little different out there when the bullets are flying so their thinking and reaction slows down but they're starting to pick it up and understand the pace of college football."
"We have a really good mix of veterans that have been through it (fall camp) before and freshmen that have come in", continued Beasley "They have kind of combined as a family in there and are able to pick each other up."
Tomorrow SFA will remain in shells but will head over to Homer Bryce Stadium for their first night practice of fall camp. The team will get drills started at 7:30 p.m.
The 'Jacks open up the 2017 season at SMU on Saturday, Sept. 2, before beginning the home portion of their schedule the following weekend against Southern Utah (Sept. 9).
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete 2017 fall camp coverage.
2017 SFA FOOTBALL FALL CAMP SCHEDULE
Sunday, Aug. 6 – Practice 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Monday, Aug. 7 – Practice 5 (3:45 p.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Wednesday, Aug. 9 – Practice 6 (3:45 p.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Thursday, Aug. 10 – Practice 7 (3:45 p.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Full Pads
Friday, Aug. 11 – Practice 8 (3:45 p.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Helmets
Saturday, Aug. 12 (Scrimmage One) – Practice 9 (4 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
Sunday, Aug. 13 – Practice 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Tuesday, Aug. 15 – Practice 11 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Wednesday, Aug. 16 – Practice 12 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Thursday, Aug. 17 – Practice 13 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Friday, Aug. 18 – Practice 14 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Helmets
Saturday, Aug. 19 (Scrimmage Two) – Practice 15 (4 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
Monday, Aug. 21 – Practice 16 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Tuesday, Aug. 22 – Practice 17 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Wednesday, Aug. 23 (Scrimmage Three) – Practice 18 (7 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
* – Practice fields located behind the athletics fieldhouse
-SFA-
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin football team strapped on shoulder pads for the first time of fall camp Saturday afternoon as the Lumberjacks took to the grass practice fields for the final time this week. The purple and white showed more physicality in the third practice of preseason camp with the shoulder pads on and had their best practice as of yet.
Head coach Clint Conque praised the team for their energy, enthusiasm and discipline during the post-practice team huddle. Despite temperatures in the mid-90's, the two fields seemed to be electric with excitement from the start of practice. That energy was magnified even more early in the practice when the entire team gathered for the cave drill, where defensive players line up head-to-head against offensive players and go one-on-one. The offense seemed to grab the upper hand in the drill after two offensive linemen forcibly put their counterparts on the ground, causing the entire offense to cheer in an exuberant manner.
Practice continued with up-tempo 11-on-11 drives, before breaking out into positional drills. The SFA coaching staff continued their installment of the 'Jacks' playbook, gathering selected defensive and offensive units to line up in game-like situations.
The entire team came together on the main field for full 11-on-11 scrimmages to close out the football portion of practice, before taking off shoulder pads and helmets to wrap up the late afternoon with sprints.
Safeties
One of the deepest positions across the field for the 'Jacks, the SFA safeties are also one of the youngest groups as a handful of underclassmen will have opportunities to make their presence felt. A total of 12 safeties occupy the roster but with only one senior and two juniors, the 'Jacks will look for additional support from five sophomores and four freshmen. SFA returns six from a year ago, including five letter winners, and welcomes a total of six newcomers to this season's squad, including three transfers. The safety core will look to continue the production from 2016 which, along with the cornerbacks, combined to produce nine interceptions and six fumble recoveries.
The clear leader of the group is Marlon Walls, the lone senior among the position. Walls is coming off his best year as a Lumberjack and is the team's top returning tackler, finishing with 62 total tackles and a team-best 37 solo stops a season ago. As SFA football's first-ever first team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American, Walls continues to emerge as one of SFA's top leaders both on and off the field. The 2016 Southland Conference Football Student-Athlete of the Year and FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star was a finalist for the FCS Doris Robinson Scholar Athlete of the Year Award and was nominated for a spot on the Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team earlier this summer.
"Marlon does things right", first-year assistant coach Ben Beasley, who works with the SFA safeties, said. "The thing about Marlon is when he comes to work, he works. He's one of those guys who is constantly locked in and he does all the extra stuff that you look for in a player. To balance that with his academics is something special."
Junior Lawrence Ghansah is coming off his best season in a Lumberjack uniform, while sophomores Alize Ward and Trey Ramos both were key contributors as freshmen last season and helped cement their positions with strong spring performances. Ghansah played in all 11 games in 2016, registering 29 total tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss. Ward ranked fourth on the team in tackles last season with 59 and also played in all 11 games, earning seven starts en route to being named All-Southland honorable mention. Ramos came on strong over the last half of the season, finishing with 16 tackles and a fumble recovery playing both defensively and on special teams.
SFA also has a pair of returners in sophomore Hunter Cabral and redshirt freshman Paten Snell that have with the program and are familiar with the playbook. Cabral played in five games in 2016, mostly on special teams, while Snell spent his redshirt season with the quarterbacks before making the transition to the defensive secondary this spring.
The 'Jacks have a handful of young players eager to make a name for themselves in the fall. Transfer Andre Wiley (Texarkana, Texas) from the Navy Preparatory Academy participated in spring workouts and will have four years of eligibility remaining, while sophomore Norman Reeves (San Antonio, Texas) and junior Jai Edwards (Humble, Texas) joined the program in the summer from Blinn College and will get their first exposure to the program. SFA also welcomes high school signees Trenton Gordon (Rowlett, Texas), Javon McInnis (Irving, Texas) and Gavin Roland (League City, Texas).
"We're fairly young but progressing really well", Coach Beasley commented after today's practice. "The advantage that we had with the young guys was having those guys here all summer, we were able to meet with them and get our install in early so this is a little bit of a review. It gets a little different out there when the bullets are flying so their thinking and reaction slows down but they're starting to pick it up and understand the pace of college football."
"We have a really good mix of veterans that have been through it (fall camp) before and freshmen that have come in", continued Beasley "They have kind of combined as a family in there and are able to pick each other up."
Tomorrow SFA will remain in shells but will head over to Homer Bryce Stadium for their first night practice of fall camp. The team will get drills started at 7:30 p.m.
The 'Jacks open up the 2017 season at SMU on Saturday, Sept. 2, before beginning the home portion of their schedule the following weekend against Southern Utah (Sept. 9).
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete 2017 fall camp coverage.
2017 SFA FOOTBALL FALL CAMP SCHEDULE
Sunday, Aug. 6 – Practice 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Monday, Aug. 7 – Practice 5 (3:45 p.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Wednesday, Aug. 9 – Practice 6 (3:45 p.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Thursday, Aug. 10 – Practice 7 (3:45 p.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Full Pads
Friday, Aug. 11 – Practice 8 (3:45 p.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Helmets
Saturday, Aug. 12 (Scrimmage One) – Practice 9 (4 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
Sunday, Aug. 13 – Practice 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Tuesday, Aug. 15 – Practice 11 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Wednesday, Aug. 16 – Practice 12 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Thursday, Aug. 17 – Practice 13 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Friday, Aug. 18 – Practice 14 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Helmets
Saturday, Aug. 19 (Scrimmage Two) – Practice 15 (4 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
Monday, Aug. 21 – Practice 16 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Tuesday, Aug. 22 – Practice 17 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Wednesday, Aug. 23 (Scrimmage Three) – Practice 18 (7 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
* – Practice fields located behind the athletics fieldhouse
-SFA-
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