Eagles get in good reps at Paulson Stadium Friday
8/23/2013 12:24:00 AM | Football
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STATESBORO, Ga. – For the first afternoon this week, sunny skies and a slight breeze Friday provided perfect practice weather for the Eagles. The Georgia Southern Football team conducted its scrimmage at Paulson Stadium, going about two hours running plays and situations to prepare the team for its season opener next Saturday at 6 p.m. against Savannah State.
Three offensive touchdowns and two on defense showed the strengths of both sides. Johnathan Bryant started the scrimmage with a quick 29-yard score followed by a Tray Butler scamper to the endzone from midfield. The final offensive touchdown came from B-Back Will Banks, a 39-yarder after the defense had scored its two touchdowns. Javon Mention scored on one of those situational plays, a scoop and score on a fumble recovery and Josh Rowe returned an interception for six points.
"We set up all the situations we could possibly get in the game, and it was good," said Head Coach Jeff Monken following the scrimmage. "Some of it we did a good job with handling and some of it we didn't. That was the goal for the day and good for our team to learn from."
Full contact in practice this week was limited, with Georgia Southern hitting lighted practice fields early Thursday morning for its first outdoor session since last Saturday's scrimmage. The Eagles looked solid in the scrimmage, running 80 plays, with a good foundation for improvement. Four scheduled practices remain before the Eagles face an opponent other than themselves.
Georgia Southern prepped for today's scrimmage with a walk-through of what they will do pre-game next Saturday. Once the whistle blew, crunching hard hits and some powerful runs in uninterrupted action gave the Eagles their game-like simulation with a full officials crew on the field. The coaching staff remained on the sidelines for the majority of the scrimmage.
"There were some good plays and from the sideline, I think I was trying to get us into those scenarios we desired at this point," Monken said. "Watching individuals and see how they played, we'll get more of an idea when we watch the film. There will be things that we need to work on more and we'll identify those when we review today's scrimmage."
Season and single game tickets are available 24/7 at GSEagles.com/tickets with seat selection available. For more information, call 1-800-GSU-WINS Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. or stop by the Athletics Ticket Office at 203 Lanier Drive for assistance.
COACH FOR THE DAY: Mark Garno, prompted by his wife, Melissa, an associate professor of nursing and BSN program director at Georgia Southern, bid for and won the Eagle Football Alumni Association (EFAA) auction package this past April to be the Eagles' "Coach for the Day." Garno spent the afternoon with the coaching staff in pre-scrimmage meetings, then rode on the yellow buses to Paulson Stadium with the Eagles. Coach Garno was on the sidelines during the scrimmage and in the locker room for halftime.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS. Fans can follow Coach Jeff Monken on his official twitter account, @CoachJeffMonken.
