BOONE, N.C. — With Pro Day occurring Thursday, several members of App State's 2022 football team were in town to attend Wednesday's final spring practice.
The spring finale, like Pro Day, serves as a springboard toward the future.
Spring practice No. 15 — No. 1 was held back on Feb. 20 — included about 65 plays of 11-on-11 scrimmaging in Kidd Brewer Stadium. Some of the highlights were third-down conversions on offense, both through the air and on the ground, before the defense countered with noteworthy red-zone stops.
"I'm pleased with where we are," head coach
Shawn Clark said. "The real work starts (Thursday) in the weight room — we'll go four days a week with Coach Greenhalgh and move forward with our offseason plan."
Some of the big hits and stops on defense came from the likes of
Kevon Haigler,
Markus Clark,
Deshawn McKnight,
Kason Boston,
Jackson Greene,
Andrew Parker,
Derrell Farrar and
Santana Hopper.
Haigler and
Cahari Haynes applied backfield pressure in addition to McKnight,
Trevor Moffitt,
Michael Fletcher and
Shawn Collins producing sacks.
Jordan Favors had a key pass breakup, and
Brodrick Gooch ended the day by intercepting a pass with help from backfield pressure by
Jalen McLeod.
Kanye Roberts,
Christan Horn,
Eli Wilson and
Ryan Burger had the most productive days offensively.
Joey Aguilar, who had to work through more challenging circumstances at different times, found a better connection with his receiving targets in the second half of practice.
Discounting the sacks, interference penalties and one batted-down pass that was negated by a pre-snap penalty, Burger actually completed all 13 of his official pass attempts for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Several of those were short or manageable third-down throws to move the chains, and he also scrambled for a 20-yard touchdown late in the session.
Horn had a strong overall day, totaling nine catches for 92 yards, and Wilson made two touchdown catches (one apiece from each of the primary quarterbacks).
Michael Hetzel had a 20-yard touchdown reception.
Roberts' first seven carries netted 86 yards, with six of those attempts gaining double-digit yardage, including one 21-yard rush and a 14-yard touchdown.
Nate Noel and
Jaylon Calhoun had 17-yard gains.
What sequence showed the fluid nature of Wednesday's workout? Fletcher and Collins delivered sacks on back-to-back plays to create a third-and-21 scenario from the 44, but Burger hit
Dashaun Davis for a 24-yard gain before connecting with Hetzel for a touchdown on the next play.
Later on, the offense quickly moved from the 25 to the 4 with a big gain, but the defense came up with three consecutive stops for little or no gain.
"Everybody knows we have a quarterback battle going on between Joey and Ryan, and that's been fun to watch," Clark said. "Ryan did exceptional the last two days (of practice), and it's been fun to see the offensive line come together. Coach Cummings has done a great job with that unit.
"On defense, Coach Sloan is implementing his system. The last three or four days, his red zone defense was outstanding and did a really good job of rallying to the football."
