Spring Practice Report #13
4/10/2008 4:16:00 AM | Football
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern went through its final workout in full pads prior to Saturday's Blue-White game presented by the Georgia Neighborhood Ford Dealers. Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Paulson Stadium.
Thursday's practice helped build up the excitement heading into a busy weekend of activities, from the Eagles' baseball weekend series against Appalachian State to Saturday afternoon's kickoff.
The morning practice session also marked the last time Georgia Southern would wear full pads before Saturday's game. Head coach Chris Hatcher liked the intensity he saw at practice, knowing that the end of spring drills is fast approaching.
“I thought defensively we had some big hits, offensively we made some good plays. We're still feeling our guys out. I thought we had a good day and its time to kind of wind the spring down for the players,” said Hatcher. “The coaches, we like to practice everyday. But from a player standpoint, it's pretty much time to wind it all down.”
The second year head coach said they scripted about 60 plays for a scrimmage at the end of practice.
Some of the defensive highlights included: eight tackles for a loss, two team sacks, a sack from Jonathan Loving (Fayetteville/Fayette County), Harland Bower (Edison, N.J./East Ridge) and David Lewis (Fairburn/Creekside)... Chris Rogers (Athens/Athens Academy) intercepted a fade pass attempt in the endzone... Wide receiver-turned-defensive back Kemuel Spivey (Hawkinsville/Hawkinsville) turned in a hard hitting tackle that fired up the defensive sideline.
The offense also came up with big plays as well. Tim Camp (Harlem/Air Force Prep) took a reverse and ran for 40-plus yards from scrimmage... Craig Norman (Lincolnton/Lincoln County) also rattled off a 20-plus run as did Kyle Collins (Atlanta/Lovett)... Ricky Ponton (Tampa, FL/Hillsborough) rushed for two touchdowns from inside the five... Lee Chapple (Norcross/GAC) threw a pass in the endzone and Michael McIntosh (Jacksonville, FL/First Coast) made an impressive jump over the defense to haul in the touchdown.
“Today, for all intents and purposes, we kind of concluded the spring drills, in our minds, as far as making depth chart decisions headed into camp. Tomorrow we'll come out and we'll work on some little things, just to get better fundamentally, and then we'll start making sure we're organized for the spring game. The Blue-White game will be vanilla on both sides of the ball. We want to go out there and let those guys have a good time, hopefully in front of a nice crowd,” said Hatcher.
HATCHER ANNOUNCES STARTING QUARTERBACK: As head coach Chris Hatcher stated about making decisions on the depth chart, one of those he announced following practice on Thursday. During his post-practice press conference, Hatcher said Lee Chapple will enter fall camp as the number one starter.
“We've named Lee Chapple as the starter coming out of the spring, and Kyle Collins will be number two. It had been a real tight battle all the way through the spring practice, but going into camp that will be the way it goes. Billy Lowe is on the injured list; so we don't know where he's going to fit in there,” said Hatcher. “But of course come camp, everybody will be battling for their positions and we've got some new guys coming in. But if we had to play right now, Chapple would be the quarterback going into the game versus the University of Georgia on August 30th.”
EAGLES WILL BE ON THE AIR: The entire Blue-White game (in addition to the Georgia Southern-Appalachian State baseball series) can be heard on Eagle 102.9 FM or via the internet at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com. Football coverage with Chris Blair and Terry Harvin will begin at 12:30.
BUSY WEEKEND ON TAP: It will be a busy weekend of baseball and football this weekend at Georgia Southern University. The baseball Eagles will play host to Appalachian State for a three-game series, also tied in with the football's team annual Blue-White game... Friday night's first pitch against App State is slated for 7 p.m. at J.I. Clements Stadium... Saturday morning continues the activities as Georgia Southern fans can purchase a ticket for ?Breakfast with the Eagles' at Manny's Grille, starting at 9 a.m. For ticket information call (912) 478-1500... At 10 a.m. there will be a Skills Challenge for members of the Little Eagles... Starting at 11, also at Paulson Stadium, country music group Waycross will perform a free concert in the parking lot, leading into the 1 p.m. Blue-White game kickoff, presented by the Georgia Neighborhood Ford Dealers... Prior to baseball's 6 p.m. first pitch later that day, there will be a free tailgate for all fans at J.I. Clements Stadium sponsored by Southern Boosters. Sunday's 1:30 p.m. baseball finale will conclude the exciting weekend of events.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICA HIGHLIGHTS KICKING CORPS: Senior Jesse Hartley (Tallahassee, FL/Lincoln) made an immediate impact on the kicking game last year, helping the Eagles during their turn-around 7-4 campaign. He set a Georgia Southern record hitting 47 consecutive extra points (47-of-47) and tied a record for most field goals in a season (17). Hartley connected on a 54-yard FG as time expired to pull out a thrilling 41-38 win over South Dakota State, and also connected on key fourth quarter field goals in the win at Appalachian State and Wofford.
Senior Patrick Bolen (Guyton/South Effingham) is a four-year member of the program who has also seen game-time playing experience. Last year Bolen was used in kickoff duties late in the year, accounting for two touchbacks including one he put through the uprights at Colorado State. Redshirt-freshman Adrian Mora (Dalton/Dalton) has continued to impress following his recovery from an injury last year.
Also on the roster include: Nathaniel Trull (Kingsland/Camden County), Nick Sasser (Brunswick/Brunswick), Sean Mayo (Warner Robins/Northside) and Chris Rogers (Dublin/Trinity Christian).
All-Southern Conference punter Daniel Jordan finished his eligibility last year, ending a stellar career in which he averaged more than 40 yards per punt. That will be the biggest hole to fill on special teams. Hartley and Mayo have experience punting. Charlie Edwards (Tifton/Tift County), who put up some impressive numbers during his prep career, joined the team in January after redshirting at UAB last fall.
SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
(dates/times subject to change... all times at 8 a.m. unless otherwise noted)
Friday, April 11 (shorts)
Saturday, April 12: Blue-White game presented by the Georgia Neighborhood Ford Dealers (1 p.m.)
