BOONE, N.C. — As the two sides converged near midfield to end practice, App State head coach
Shawn Clark instructed the players to go back to their respective sidelines and return to midfield with more urgency.
Spring Break has ended. Spring Practice has resumed.
This Monday afternoon on the mountain was no day at the beach, not with the goals in place for the Mountaineers' football program.
There was certainly some rust to shake off as App State conducted its 10th spring workout — 12 days after workout No. 9, with a complete week off in between.
"It's a quick turnaround from Spring Break, and it was good to get our guys back," Clark said. "It wasn't our best practice today, but we did get some things accomplished. I thought the guys played with great effort and great attention to detail."
On special teams,
Conner Maynard and newcomer
Mitchell Lake delivered several spiraling punts deep down the field.
Michael Hughes kicked well when the field goal unit had to rush onto the field with the clock running toward triple zeroes.
The first 11-on-11 segment of practice featured a two-minute drill in which
Joey Aguilar made several strong throws, connecting with
Christan Horn in heavy traffic before hooking up with tight end
Eli Wilson for a long gain inside the 5. Aguilar and Horn connected again in the corner of the end zone with a perfectly executed throw and catch.
There were offensive and defensive highlights later on, including a scoop-and-score touchdown from defensive end
Shawn Collins to offset a one-handed catch from
Scoobie Ford,
Ryan Burger's long throw to
Dashaun Davis and
Anderson Castle's big gain on the ground.
When
Nate Noel broke off a big run, staff member
Al DeGraffenreid enthusiastically yelled out, "Let's run the ball all day!"
The defense excelled early in some red-zone scenarios, with
Kevon Haigler stripping the ball from a quarterback and safety
Jarrett Paul picking off a tipped throw.
Makai Jackson's over-the-middle catch set up an Aguilar touchdown strike to
Kaedin Robinson, and Jackson later reached the end zone.
In seven-on-seven work,
Nick Ross and
Milan Tucker had impressive pass breakups.
"It was up and down all day long on both sides of the football," Clark said.
