Two a days begin today and with a morning practice session and with almost a week of practice behind them the Tops are making strides in being more efficient on both sides of the ball. The quarterback competition looks to be more of a two way race now as Pelesasa and Jakes are getting the majority of the reps.
Freshman Brandon Doughty has the biggest arm of all three but is inaccurate at times, especially out of the pocket, as he threw a couple of groundballs to receivers in the morning session.
Pelesasa seems to be getting more confident in running the offense and made some good throws this morning. Although he did severely overthrow a very wide open (6’6” tight end) Jack Doyle in the end zone on a ball that Manute Bol with a jet pack would not have hops to catch!
On goal line drills from the three yard line the offense and defense were battling it out with each other with the offense winning the war when the dust settled. Both sides of the ball were rowdy after big plays were made with each side chanting at one another, making the goal line plays very competitive. When the offense would pump the ball in the end zone the Hilltopper Fight Song would ignite from all the offensive players.
Coach Taggart and his staff are working well together in creating an environment of encouragement, excitement, and discipline. You will often see a coach sprinting through the sea of pads and helmets after the whistle has blown to praise a player for a great effort and rewarding them with multiple taps on the helmet. They are also not afraid to get in a player’s face when need be. There seems to be a good vibe amongst the players and coaches during the flow of practice.
Wide receiver Willie McNeal did not help himself in winning the punt return job today by letting a punt bounce over his head, then jumping to swat the ball with one hand, touching it which makes it a live ball, then chasing after it and fumbling it some more. Yeah, the ball won that battle which resulted in Mr. McNeal getting yelled at and running a penalty lap around the field. Hopefully this will serve as a reminder for him to practice his shot blocking on a basketball court.
In other news, a player (not sure who) was stopped midway in his trot to the Gatorade break and was forced to return to the sidelines by coaches in order to show more hustle to the Gatorade break! How awesome is that? Which got me thinking, a Gatorade break for them is like recess. In grade school, I don’t recall ever walking to recess, I always ran because the faster I got there, the more time I had to play duck, duck, goose or annoy some girl I had a crush on. Most of the time the girl would annoy me.
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