BOONE, N.C. — Members of App State's offense and defense celebrated simultaneously 40 yards apart.
In the offensive backfield, defenders acknowledged an apparent non-contact sack from
Nick Hampton. Moments later,
Chase Brice released a deep throw toward
Jalen Virgil, who made a leaping catch while being closely guarded.
Depending on your allegiance, there were bragging rights — with no shortage of spirited back-and-forth conversation — among players on both sides of the ball.
Below is a recap from Wednesday, including thoughts from head coach
Shawn Clark and a few highlights from the offense and defense.
App State's 2021 season opens Thursday, Sept. 2 with a neutral-site game against East Carolina at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium. The 2021 home opener is Sept. 18 vs. Elon.
The season ticket renewal and parking request deadline is April 30. Season ticket holders who haven't renewed as of yet need to refer to their activation email from Paciolan to activate their account (you retained your same account number). At that point, you can renew your season tickets online.
THOUGHTS FROM COACH CLARK
"It was a good day of practice. I thought the offense started off good in the two-minute drill. That's a situation we work every day, when you need to score going 80 yards for a touchdown. That was good to see, and as the practice went on, our defense kept getting better and better. And toward the end, our defense was really taking it to our offense, which is good. It was a big install day for the offense, and it was a little sloppy, but some good things to work off of."
OFFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS
The hot start from the offense included a perfectly placed, 35-yard throw from
Chase Brice to
Corey Sutton in the back-left corner of the end zone for a highlight-reel touchdown catch.
Dashaun Davis had a strong day catching passes from his slot position, hauling in an early touchdown throw from
Tanner Wilson to the approval of offensive coordinator
Frank Ponce, and
Milan Tucker turned his head right, then back to the left just in time to catch a deep throw from Brice.
Sean Horton also made an impressive diving grab of a throw from
DC Tabscott on a fade route.
"You have to have some poise about yourself and know you have to go 80 yards to win the football game," Clark said. "I thought Chase had great command of the offense there, receivers ran great routes, the offensive line blocked well and the running backs protected and ran well. It goes back to certain situations we had last fall, and watching that, I was pretty thrilled to see us do that."
As moving the ball got tougher,
Ben Williams did break off a long run, tight end
August Drews plowed through a defender on a nice gain and
Christian Wells came up with an end-zone grab in heavy traffic after a scrambling Tabscott released a throw as he approached the sideline. The going was also tough by the goalline, although Tabscott dived into the end zone for one score and
Henry Pearson worked himself open for a touchdown catch.
Up front, early enrollee
Jaden Lindsay had a chance to work alongside some of the Mountaineers' veteran linemen.
DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS
Like Hampton,
KeSean Brown succeeded in applying pressure from an outside linebacker spot, while cornerback
Steven Jones had several impressive breakups.
Jordan Mitchell and
Markell Samuel combined for one noteworthy run stop behind the line, and
Ryan Huff's interception of a deep throw came as the play was being blown dead.
Later in practice, the defense produced plenty of highlights, including
Nicholas Ross' interception of a deep throw toward the end zone,
Tommy Wright's behind-the-line stop of an end-around,
Stan Ellis' deep coverage to force offensive interference and
Jalen McLeod's jarring hit on a run for a short gain.
"You can see we have a lot of team speed on defense," Clark said. "They pin their ears back and get the offense in third-and-long, we can rush the passer. As a former offensive line coach, you don't want to go against that when you're coaching there, but when it's your team, it's good to see that we can bring pressure and cover on the edges."
