Baker pleased with Eagles' second scrimmage
Wide receiver Jurell Williams makes a move on the outside for the offense
August 15
Saturday marked the two-week point until Faulkner’s season opener, and head coach Gregg Baker feels his team continues to make strides on both sides of the ball.
During Saturday’s full scrimmage, both the offense and defense showed signs of being game ready, although Baker was quick to point out that there’s still a ways to go.
Wide receiver Adrian "AJ" Yelder comes just inches from a score Saturday morning
Quarterback TJ Jacobs carries the ball to the outside for the offense
“We’re not ready yet, but we don’t have to be. We will be ready in two weeks, and I saw a lot today that makes me feel good about our progress,” Baker said. “We’ll go back now as a staff, really look closely at the film, and make some personnel decisions early next week about which guys we’re going to be counting on this fall.”
One player who Baker knows he’ll be counting on is versatile junior receiver/slotback Jurell Williams, one of only a handful of players who has been with the Faulkner program since it began three year ago. On Saturday, Williams was a workhorse, catching eight passes for 98 yards and running the ball five times for 48 yards.
Defensive back Q Braswell returns a fumble the length of the field for a score
“We’re a lot further along than we’ve ever been at this point,’’ Williams said. “Everybody is coming together and working harder than we ever have. We have a lot of new players, but it’s like we already know and trust each other. ’’
The competition for the starting quarterback position has turned into a two-horse race, with a pair of redshirt freshmen having separated themselves from the pack. Either Trey Martin, a transfer from Harding University, or T.J. Jacobs, who shined in spring practice, will start Faulkner’s opener in Orlando against Webber International University on Aug. 29.
Quarterback Trey Martin fires a pass toward the end zone
Wide receiver Oliver Pollard makes a huge gain across the middle
“I thought both quarterbacks looked good at times today, and showed more consistency,’’ Faulkner offensive coordinator Corey Fipps said. “Our decision-making was better, and I know all these guys are working extremely hard trying to get better.’’
Martin got the most reps on Saturday, with Jacobs nursing a slight hand injury. Martin was 19-of-31 for 189 yards and two touchdowns, while Jacobs 5-of-5 for 61 yards. Jacobs also had 43 yards rushing, including an 8-yard scamper for a touchdown.
Linebacker Sean Thom levels wide receiver Bobby Britton late in the event
Receivers Deonte Allen, Josh Hall, Frankie Padula, Oliver Pollard and Leslie James all turned in solid performances in the scrimmage. James, Allen and Pollard all caught touchdown passes.
An area of concern that Fipps was not pleased with was the scrimmage’s turnover column, which saw the Eagles commit three – two of which came in the red zone. Defensive back Q. Braswell returned one fumble 95 yards for a touchdown.
“We really like what this offense is gonna do for us, which is allow us to get the ball into space and drive the field,” Fipps said. “But the turnovers are unacceptable. We’ve got to do a better job with that.”
The Faulkner defense took on a “bend but don’t break” mentality in the scrimmage, with defensive coordinator Duane McWhorter emphasizing all week the importance of not surrendering the big play. He was pleased with the results.
Running back Lincoln Tayler carries the ball during the scrimmage
“We wanted to keep the ball in front of us, and I thought for the most part we did a good job of that,” McWhorter said. “When a team has to drive the ball down the field, most of the time something is bound to go wrong. We forced some mistakes because we showed better patience. I was also pleased with our defensive line and how they were able to knock some passes down today.”
Baker said he will put the Eagles through full-contact workouts Monday and Tuesday before lightening things up on Wednesday in preparation for Faulkner’s final preseason scrimmage Thursday evening. He then plans to give the team two days off prior to getting into game-week mode Sunday.
QB Martin making strides; second scrimmage set for Saturday morning
August 13
Trey Martin, the redshirt freshman quarterback who transfered from Harding University over the summer, has started to make his mark on the Faulkner offense, according to head coach Gregg Baker. Martin is in a tussle with four others for the starting job that will most likely be decided upon early next week.
"Trey had a really good day today," said Baker, following a two-hour workout in full pads. "It has taken him awhile to get his feet wet here, but you can really tell he's getting more and more comfortable each day. His demeanor has changed, and we're starting to hear that 'quarterback chatter' with the rest of the guys in the huddle. He's started to take on a lot of leadership qualities, and I like to see that.''
The offense Faulkner is running is the same offense Harding runs. The Eagles' new offensive coordinator, Corey Fipps, installed the offense three years ago as Harding's offensive coordinator.
"There's no question Trey understands what we're trying to do," Baker said. "In fact, I think the entire offense is really making strides. We worked on our screen packages today, and I was very pleased with all phases of it.''
The Eagles will workout again Friday afternoon for two hours, but will scale down the 11-on-11 contact in preparation for Saturday morning's scrimmage, which is set for 9 at Robert E. Lee High School. It is open to the public.
Faulkner begins second week of fall practice with ‘sluggish’ workout
August 11
Faulkner began its second week of fall practice Tuesday with an early morning two-hour workout in full pads.
Because of freshman orientation taking place on campus, head coach Gregg Baker took his team out at 6 a.m., which effectively beat the heat as well as the forcasted afternoon thunderstorms, which washed out Monday’s scheduled workout.
“I thought we were definitely sluggish this morning, but that may have been because of the early hour,’’ Baker said. “We got a lot of 11-on-11 stuff in and did some skill position drills as well.’’
Baker said the Eagles spent a lot of time on “passing under pressure” drills, which allows the defense to work on its blitz passes and the offense to work on its blocking assignments.
Having the two days off after the Eagles’ first scrimmage on Saturday may have been a blessing, according to Baker.
“It allowed us to get some guys back that have been banged up,’’ he said. “You always have a lot of minor things that first week of practice, and getting away from it for a couple of days really helped us and got our legs back under us a little bit.’’
Baker is still keeping a watchful eye on the quarterback position, with five players still competing for the starting job. Redshirt freshmen T. J. Jacobs and Trey Martin, and junior college transfer Royce Hughes appear to be leading the quarterback pack at the moment. Baker said he’ll make some decisions on the position after Saturday’s scheduled scrimmage, which is set for a 9 a.m. start at Robert E. Lee High School.