Unheralded players shine during Saturday's Football scrimmage

04/09/2011 | 12:00:00 | Football

April 9, 2011

By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Saluki football team held its first scrimmage of the spring season on Saturday morning, and among the highlights of the 82-play workout were performances by some of the Salukis' less-heralded players.

Running back LaSteven McKinney made the first, big offensive play of the scrimmage when he darted through a hole on the left side, cut back against the grain and raced 44 yards for a touchdown. The redshirt freshman led all rushers with six carries for 65 yards.

The running game was solid throughout, with a stable of backs carrying 36 times for 183 yards -- a 5.0 yard average per attempt.

Head coach Dale Lennon tipped his cap to the Saluki offensive line which returns four starters, including seniors David Pickard, Bryan Boemer and George Danilkowicz.

"I like what our offensive line is doing, especially our first group," said Lennon. "You can tell that they have played a lot of football together. I thought they controlled the tempo, and kind of set the tone for the offense when they were in there."

The passing game started slowly as Paul McIntosh threw a pick-six to safety Mike McElroy on the first series, but the junior quarterback recovered to complete 9-of-15 passes overall for 102 yards.

Working mostly with the third-team offense, quarterback A.J. Hill had a splendid afternoon. The Northern Illinois transfer completed 11-of-15 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns. His first TD pass came with the offense backed up to its own five yardline. Hill hit Alex Martin on a seam route, and the sophomore wideout took it 95 yards for a score. Later, Hill connected with Martin again on a nine-yard touchdown strike.

Lennon said the play of Martin, who led all receivers with four catches for 157 yards, illustrates the opportunity that spring scrimmages present.

"Alex knew coming in that the odds were against him as far as just making the team," Lennon said. "He just wanted a shot. Today he made plays, and that's the big thing about football -- you have opportunities and you have to take advantage of them. When you do, you get noticed."

Defensively, the Salukis got a lift from the nose guard position, where the trio of Kayon Swanson, Derrick Nsubuga and Myron Walker combined to make four tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Walker had two, while Swanson and Nsubuga each had one.

There were no fumbles in the scrimmage, though the defense did sack the quarterback three times, as linebackers Cory Lee, Juan Avila and Bryan Presume each made solo stops.

The team has practiced eight times in the last two weeks and will have another scrimmage next Saturday at 9 a.m. and the annual Spring Game at 7 p.m. on April 22. Interspersed throughout today's scrimmage were special teams drills and situational play.

"We still have other components we need to put in -- such as short yardage and goal line," Lennon said. "We'll spend a lot of time this week working on our two-minute offense. When we go next week, we want to have the complete package ready to go, as if it were a real game."

PASSING (In order of appearance)

Paul McIntosh: 9-of-15, 102 yards, INT
Kory Faulkner: 3-of-7, 62 yards
A.J. Hill: 11-of-15, 203 yards, 2 TDs

RUSHING (In order of appearance)

Steve Strother: 6-for-10
LaSteven McKinney: 6-for-65
Anton Wilkins: 5-for-9
Shariff Harris: 6-for-38
Mulku Kalokoh: 10-for-24
Kory Faulkner: 1-for-29
A.J. Hill: 1-for-7
Kendell Edwards: 1-for-1

RECEIVING (In order of catch made)

Carl Harris: 3-for-28
Anton Wilkins: 2-for16
MyCole Pruitt: 1-for-13
Jordan Levy: 3-for-22
Dalton Morgan: 1-for-37
John Lantz: 4-for-59
Shariff Harris: 1-for-9
Cam Fuller: 1-for-10
Alex Martin: 4-for-157
Luke Standiford: 1-for-5
De'Ron Flood: 1-for-5

After the scrimmage, the coaching staff hosted a Coaches Clinic at the stadium. Featured speakers were Kirby Wilson (Pittsburgh Steelers), Tim Tibesar (Montreal Alouettes), Ken Leonard (Sacred Heart-Griffin H.S./Ill.) and John Hart (Warren Central H.S./Ind.).

"Our facilities now allow us to have a first-class clinic," Lennon said. "Before, we had a clinic but it was just very small. Now we can bring in big names. We have big plans for the future, bringing in NFL head coaches. It's just something to give back to Southern Illinois. Get the high school coaches out here for a Saturday morning or afternoon and just have fun with the game of football."