Friday, April 11, 2008 11:10 PM CDT
QB competition ongoing for Eastern
BY BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON – Adaptations to Eastern Illinois football’s new look on offense continue today with quarterback evaluations part of this second spring scrimmage.
Bodie Reeder is the incumbent but certainly not the only quarterback in the picture as the Panthers look at a spread offense.
“I would say it’s a competition,” EIU coach Bob Spoo said. “That’s my interpretation.
“We’ve got to get better at that position. We’ve got to get better.”
That means redshirt freshmen Luke Hockaday, the strong armed quarterback from Maroa-Forsyth’s 2006 Class 2A state champions, and D.J. Brown, the running QB from North Chicago, are challenging Reeder, who as a sophomore was the starter for the last nine games of the Panthers’ 8-4 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoff season.
Then Doug Reynolds of Ohio high school power Cincinnati Colerain is to bring his running ability into the picture as a freshman in August.
Reynolds was recruited with Spoo’s plan to switch his tradition drop-back quarterback offense into the spread attack.
“The kids are adapting to the new offensive system,” said the coach heading into his 22nd year at Eastern. “The biggest thing is the terminology.”
Running back Travorus Bess, who has been sidelined with an injury, is looking to get back in action today joining Florida transfer Chavon Walker, who scored two touchdowns last week, and Norris Smith, who appears to be making a good recovering from last year’s injury-shortened season.
With All-American end Pierre Walters as well as tackle Trevor Frerichs sidelined this spring after surgeries but expected back for the season, several defensive players are getting their chance to impress.
Defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said senior to be Donovan Johnson is having a good spring while Colin Luczynski, who is to be a sophomore, is emerging into a key player.
“I think we’re going to have more depth on the line that we though,” Bellantoni said.
The linebackers unit has Nathan Shortridge and Sean Campbell injured right now giving others a chance.
One week before the spring game, the second scrimmage of the month is to start at about 10 a.m. today at O’Brien Stadium.
“We’ll put the ball on certain lines and have more game like conditions,” EIU assistant head coach Roc Bellantoni said. “Last week it was just eight plays and then go to another yard line. This week if we have a 12-play drive, they’ll keep going. If it’s three and out, then the next group will come in. With so many new guys, we want to give them more game-like experience.”
Fans can watch today’s scrimmage but results are not considered crucial at this point.
“If Norris Smith has another good day, I won’t lose much sleep at night,” Bellantoni said. “I don’t get too up or down over what we do against our offense.
“I want to see our young linebackers feel more comfortable. The defensive backs played well last week. I just want to see consistency there.”
Maybe the coaches are not seeing everything they would like during these spring practices.
“One of our main goals was to improve our tackling but we’re so short at running back and wide receiver we haven’t been able to do a lot of that,” Bellantoni said.
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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eiualum78 wrote on Apr 12, 2008 5:45 PM: