March 5, 2013

WEST POINT, N.Y.  – The Army football team began its final week of spring practice on Tuesday morning with a workout inside the Foley Athletic Center. Army has one more practice on Thursday before the wrapping up spring practice on Friday.

Tuesday’s Notables

• Army ran through its normal routine of warm-up, position and team drills before finishing up with an Army vs. Army period.
• The team was once again split into three groups – Black, Gold and Gray.
• The Black Knights were down to two quarterbacks by the end of Tuesday’s practice. Kelvin White was once again in a blue jersey and did not participate in the 11-on-11 work, while Angel Santiago suffered an injury during practice. Santiago walked off the field after practice under his own power. A.J. Schurr quarterbacked both the Black and Gold teams, while Cody Jackson was under center with Gray.
• The Black team’s offensive line looked a bit different than in previous workouts. The most noticeable switch was at guard where Stephen Shumaker and Matt Hugenberg swapped sides. Shumaker started at right guard last season, but was on the left side Friday morning. Nick Bennett (LT), Todd McDonald (C) and Justin Gilbert (RT) rounded out the rest of the offensive line.
• Joining Schurr in the Black’s backfield were Larry Dixon (FB), Terry Baggett (RB) and Trenton Turrentine (RB). Hayden Tippett also worked in with the group at fullback. Stephen Fraser and Tony Giovanelli were out Friday with red jerseys. Anthony Stephens, Patrick Laird and Chevaughn Lawrence rotated at wide receiver.
• The biggest change on the Black’s defense Friday was at mike linebacker. Colby Miller was working in that spot with the Black squad. The rest of the black defense consisted of Joe Drummond (DE), T.J. Atimalala (DT), Robert Kough (DT), Dalton Mendenhall (DE) and Jarrett Mackey (Bandit) across the front, Chris Carnegie and Lamar Johnson-Harris at the corners, Thomas Holloway at rover, Shaquille Tolbert at sam and Geoffery Bacon at free safety. Ryan Alexander, James Kelly, Derek Sanchez also rotated in along the defensive front.
• Bacon once again showed off his athletic ability, running the alley to stop an option pitch for little or no gain.
• Tippett threw a crushing lead block that spring Schurr for a long gain.
• Gino DeBartolo and Tyler McLees, who had a strong scrimmage last Saturday, rotated at mike linebacker for the Gold defense.

Tuesday’s Quotables
Co-Defensive Coordinator Chris Smeland
(Ref.: the back half of the Army defense’s performance this spring)
“We got a good chance to play a lot of our base coverage versus option football, and I think we made some strides there. We moved people around such as Shaquille Tolbert from corner to sam, and I think that was a very positive move for us. I think he’s a young man that is going to express what we’re looking for at that position. He’s a guy that can play in space a little a bit. It was nice to see Geoffery Bacon have a good spring after we backed him up. I think maybe he sees the game a little better from that spot. Thomas Holloway had a solid spring, and Chris Carnegie is playing with a lot of confidence at boundary corner. You would expect that after all the reps he got as a freshman, but he’s come in this spring and really done a nice job. I think we’re pleased with those guys right now.”

(Ref.: going through spring ball without three starters from last season)
“It gives us a chance to take a look at some guys that came over from the other side of the ball like Luke Proulx. Luke has had a solid spring in terms of understanding what we’re trying to get done defensively. He still has a little ways to go. It’s good to get a guy like Addison Holstein back on the field. He’s really been away from us for almost two seasons because of injury. It’s been good.”

(Ref.: getting those players who missed the spring back in the fall)
“We’re looking forward to getting those guys back off the sideline. Those guys will create a pretty interesting dynamic for us in the fall.”