Football | 8/12/2017 2:02:00 PM

PHOTO GALLERY

STATESBORO, Ga. – Saturday morning, the Eagle football squad participated in their second of three scrimmages during the preseason, this one signifying the end of camp as classes begin Monday. The team entered Paulson Stadium at just before 9:30 a.m. to begin stretching, individual drills and work through special teams. All four quarterbacks took the field on Saturday, running plays with a combination of personnels.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS MAKES A SPLASH
Practice began with a flurry of special team situations, except for kickoff and kickoff return. Following these situations the teams split into a traditional offense and defense scrimmage beginning at the plus 20-yard line.

"I thought we came out here with a little bit of energy," senior Myles Campbell said. "I thought it was pretty good. The offense was really good, but we still have things to work on. I think we took another step forward today."

Matt Flynn had two punts on the morning, averaging 49 yards. Tyler Bass made three of his four field goal attempts from 37, 42 and 50 yards, while one was blocked by Monquavion Brinson. Myles Campbell took the first punt back 73 yards for a touchdown.

"First I have to catch it, I can't let it bounce right there," Campbell said. "I have to give it up to the punt block team, the whole operation, everybody was blocking down field and honestly I was just following my blockers. They did a really great job."

As the offense began to explode throughout the first couple of series, Campbell was in the middle of it, scoring off an run. He took the option pitch right and followed the blocks to the end zone for the score.

"I think the whole operation went really well. I think the offensive line did a great job today getting push upfront and opening holes. We just made plays, it's just all up to the offensive line and the quarterbacks did a great job as well."
 
OFFENSE PUNCHES, DEFENSE PUNCHES BACK
As true scrimmage opportunities began, the offense came out firing on all cylinders scoring several quick touchdowns on the defense. Monteo Garrett broke off a rush for 87 yards for a score, while Demarcus Godfrey added a 31-yard touchdown score. Kado Brown tacked on a 13-yard touchdown run and then Godfrey added a 1-yard score minutes later.

"It's been a good camp, a lot of learning for all of us," redshirt freshman defensive end Trevor Vliem said. "We try to accelerate the learning as much as we can, since we are such a young group. We're playing at a slight disadvantage just off of experience, so were just trying to learn as fast as we can. I think we are doing really well as far as the effort goes."

The defense didn't take lightly to how the offense was walking up and down the field. A stout defense, led by a defensive line who got after the quarterback and created havoc. Raymond Johnson III forced and recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.

"It feels great whenever you're making plays and when you're not you need to bow up and make some stops, or else the game is going to be over in a heartbeat," Vliem said.
 
TYSON HAPPY WITH CAMP, SUMMERS JR. NOW COACHING
Practice concluded with the team singing the alma mater in front of where the band performs in the stadium. Coach Tyson Summers was happy with how the second scrimmage went, but pointed out there were a lot of good teaching points that they will use from today.

"I thought you saw a few more points today," Summers said. "You're starting to see a group that has a little bit more confidence. We are almost three weeks in now and we have certainly taken a lot of time and days in between, but I think that you see both sides of the ball where they are playing well. One of the big things was trying to turn around all the turnovers that we had last week and I think we did a better job of that today. I think both sides of the ball had good days today. We are really excited about where were at after three weeks."

Toward the end of practice, the team worked on two-minute drills, final play situations, no timeouts, and more. The team ran through about 10 different situations, while rotating personnel and units. Both sides of the ball had a sense of energy, and the guys will have the next two days off with classes starting Monday.

"I just can't say enough how proud I am of these guys. I think it's a whole picture as far as what they did in the offseason and the kind of summer they had, with their academics being as good as they were both the spring and the summer," Summers continued. "We've come up here to camp and I think every day for three weeks they have attacked every practice. A lot of times you have ups and downs, mental break downs and other things of that nature, but we haven't really seen that. We've seen guys in the team that have continued to get better and continue to grow stronger together."

Summers also announced that Mike Summers Jr. will serve as a student assistant with the program after having his appeal for a sixth year denied. Summers Jr. was a graduate transfer from Georgia Tech who enrolled at GS last season. Summers Jr. was in camp last preseason, but suffered a knee injury that required surgery. When he finally returned he was hindered by a calf injury and was unable to dress for any games. The Statesboro native will continue to help out this season as he finishes up work on his master's degree from Georgia Southern University.

"We've been going through this process with Mike and we were really excited about having him as a part of our team and having him come back home here to Statesboro," Summers said. "Mike is a phenomenal young man and who already earned his degree from Georgia Tech. He had a little bit of an injury bug last year and we were hoping to be able to try to get him another year of eligibility with the NCAA. We ran into a situation where they have decided to not grant him that last year, so what Mike's been doing this last year is helping as a student assistant. He will work to finish up his master's and continues to be a great leader and example for the younger guys on our program."

SAVANNAH PRACTICE
Georgia Southern will take a practice on the road as it heads to Savannah for its 19th preseason practice. The Eagles will head east on I-16 and will practice on the campus of Armstrong State University on Friday, Aug. 18 from 6-7:30 PM. Following the completion of the practice, the team will hold a fan fest with autographs, inflatables, entertainment and much more. More details will be made available on Monday.

CLEAR BAG POLICY
In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.
 
Georgia Southern Preseason Football Schedule
Date (Time, Location)
Sun., Aug. 13 No practice
Mon., Aug. 14 No practice
Tues., Aug. 15 (4-6 PM, Eagle Creek)
Wed., Aug. 16 (4-6 PM, Eagle Creek)
Thurs., Aug. 17 (4-6 PM, Paulson - scrimmage #3)
Fri., Aug. 18 (6-7:30 PM, Armstrong State; 7:30 PM Fan Fest, Armstrong State)
Sat., Aug. 19 No practice
Sun., Aug. 20 No practice
Mon., Aug. 21 (4-6 PM, Paulson)
Tue., Aug. 22 (4-6 PM, Eagle Creek)

* times and locations subject to change