BOONE, N.C. — Tuesday's football practice ended with a 100-yard race involving an App State lineman and program staple
J.R. Reese, a retired police officer who serves as the Mountaineers' Student Life Coordinator.
Whether he received any unfair help is up for debate, but Reese showed off his impressive fitness level in a victory that had App State players and coaches alike swarming him with congratulatory cheers.
While Reese has one of the most familiar faces around Kidd Brewer Stadium, young newcomers continue to make their presence felt early in camp.
True freshman defensive back
Travis McNichols Jr., for instance, intercepted two passes in 11-on-11 work Tuesday. In the first week-plus of camp, some of the acrobatic or one-handed catches have come from the likes of freshmen
Dalton Stroman (receiver),
Jaquan Lowman (receiver) and
David Larkins (tight end).
Through six practices, there have been opportunities for many of the 86 returning players on App State's roster to sharpen their skills as well as chances for the freshmen or incoming transfers to make strong impressions. A defense with almost everyone back from 2020 has looked stout to this point.
"The defense is always going to be ahead of the offense early in camp, and we know that," head coach
Shawn Clark said. "That group's been together for a long time on defense, and we need to get some continuity on offense. We're mixing and matching a little bit on the offensive line and have had a few guys out."
Last Friday's practice was marked by the defense turning red-zone opportunities and possessions inside the 30 into plenty of field-goal tries instead of touchdowns, but the trio of
Chandler Staton,
Michael Hughes (freshman) and
Trey Schaneville (transfer) went a combined 6-for-6 on kicks that day.
While
Corey Sutton has shown the form that made him a dominant receiver in his first two seasons at App State, already impressive depth within that position group has been bolstered by several newcomers and the development of returning underclassmen.
Among the offensive highlights from a full-pads Tuesday were a long run from
Nate Noel following a handoff from
Chase Brice, who has been taking first-team reps, and a long catch from
Michael Hetzel. Defensively, safety
Ronald Clarke had a pick-six interception and
Steven Jones Jr. continued his solid work at cornerback.
App State's experienced defense performed well in a two-minute drill and also put the offense behind the chains at times, but the offense executed at a high rate in third-down situations.
"Situational football, we can't get enough of that," Clark said. "Defense gave it to the offense today, but we'll come back tomorrow and get back to it and make sure we're ready to go."
