Coen names four captains as preseason camp winds down for Mountain Hawks
8/25/2017 6:13:00 PM | Football
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With its season opener now just eight days away, the Lehigh football team is winding down the camp portion of its preseason. Orientation has begun for first-year students and focus has started to shift to preparing for the season-opening top 20 showdown against Villanova at Goodman Stadium.
With the camp portion of preseason coming to an end, Lehigh head coach Andy Coen announced Lehigh's captains for upcoming campaign. The Mountain Hawks will have four captains in 2017: fifth-year senior offensive linemen Zach Duffy and Brandon Short, both of who were named captains for the second straight season; fifth-year senior defensive lineman Jimmy Mitchell, and safety Sam McCloskey, who becomes the first junior elected to captain the Brown and White since Sedale Threatt in 2006.
"I'm obviously really pleased about the guys that were chosen," Coen said. "My expectation was that Zach and Brandon would both be re-elected. They both did a tremendous job with leadership last year and they will do a great job again this year. Jimmy Mitchell has been on the cusp of being a great leader so I'm happy for him. He has worked really hard on his leadership skills but also on being a better football player at every opportunity he gets. Everyone likes him and respects his personality and that's a big thing. You want to have guys who like each other and trust each other.
"Having a junior captain does not happen often at Lehigh," Coen continued. "What's really impressive is that in our ballots contain only seniors with the ability to write-in people. A lot of our guys obviously had to write in Sam, so that was really interesting to see. Our coaching staff feels he's ready right now to be a strong captain and his peers obviously feel the same way."
Duffy and Short were both All-Patriot League performers a season ago paving the way for a Lehigh offense that ranked sixth nationally in passing offense and ninth in total offense. Mitchell started all 12 games at nose tackles last season, finishing with 24 tackles and two sacks. McCloskey made 11 starts at strong safety, finishing with 54 tackles and a team-leading three interceptions.
After their first scrimmage of camp on August 15, the Mountain Hawks held a second scrimmage on August 20 and a third that featured primarily situational and special teams work on August 23.
"We've had a really solid camp with just a couple days left," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen explained. "The defense has done some really good things. Our kicking game is starting to come around and the offense has really just picked up from where they were a year ago."
Lehigh's offense has looked sharp throughout camp with eight starters returning, including a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in seniors Troy Pelletier and Gatlin Casey; a 1,000-yard rusher in junior Dominick Bragalone; along with four-fifths of the offensive line.
Both of Lehigh's top two quarterbacks, junior Brad Mayes and senior Matt Timochenko have performed well throughout camp. The two question marks facing Lehigh's offense during camp were at slot receiver, with the graduations of Derek Knott and Trevor Socarras, and the vacant spot on the offensive line.
"Sasha Kelsey got back on the field and is ready to play football again," Coen said. "He looks great and has done a really nice job. The combination of Sasha and Luke Christiano I think we're really solid there. Another freshman guy who really popped up is Jorge Portorreal and he's really nice job. We've got a really good group of wideouts."
Among several offensive linemen who have enjoyed strong camps, Coen noted freshman Jackson Evans, who could end up in the mix at guard.
"He's had a really good camp and that's something that's really hard to do as an offensive lineman – to be a starter at this level (as a freshman) – but he has done a great job and has a good chance to help us there," Coen said.
Defensively, Coen has seen improvement as the unit continues to compete at a high level while battling an offense that ranked in the top 10 in the FCS last year on a daily basis throughout camp.
"At times we might not look very good because our offense is so strong, but the defense always competes," Coen noted. "That's what I love about these guys. We're going to have some young defensive players definitely on special teams. There's probably going to be some young players in the secondary who are going to have to take some reps here and there. What I like about those kids is that they are so competitive. They compete against each other every time were out here and that's great to see."
Linebacker has been the major area of interest, with several younger players stepping up and catching the eyes of the coaching staff.
"Keith Woetzel and Jon Seighman are two sophomores who have done a really nice job for us at linebacker," Coen said. "It's going to take them a little longer but freshmen Nate Norris and Pete Haffner have done a really good job. By the time the season ends I think those two guys are going to find themselves on the field."
Expectations remain high after a title in 2016 and being picked first in the league's preseason poll last month, but Coen feels like the Mountain Hawks are in a good spot as camp winds down.
"We have a lot of veteran guys back," Coen said. "This was a very good group of kids that really wanted to get back here and help their teammates win another championship. That's a hard task. I've told the team that winning this championship is going to be harder than the one last year but our guys are moving in that direction.
"We're not too high or too low," Coen added. "That's the way you want your football team to be. Our guys are very inspired to play a very good Villanova team. I think we'll have a really good group of fans and alumni coming back for that game and we're excited to be playing it at home."
The camp portion of preseason ends with the annual Alumni Steak Fry on Sunday. The Mountain Hawks will be off Monday for their first day of the fall semester and will resume their traditional in-season schedule with a practice next Tuesday in preparation for next weekend's season opener.
The 17th-ranked Mountain Hawks will open the 2017 season against No. 10/9 Villanova on Saturday, September 2 at 12:30 p.m. at Goodman Stadium. Tickets to that game and all Lehigh home football games can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting LehighTickets.com.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With its season opener now just eight days away, the Lehigh football team is winding down the camp portion of its preseason. Orientation has begun for first-year students and focus has started to shift to preparing for the season-opening top 20 showdown against Villanova at Goodman Stadium.
With the camp portion of preseason coming to an end, Lehigh head coach Andy Coen announced Lehigh's captains for upcoming campaign. The Mountain Hawks will have four captains in 2017: fifth-year senior offensive linemen Zach Duffy and Brandon Short, both of who were named captains for the second straight season; fifth-year senior defensive lineman Jimmy Mitchell, and safety Sam McCloskey, who becomes the first junior elected to captain the Brown and White since Sedale Threatt in 2006.
"I'm obviously really pleased about the guys that were chosen," Coen said. "My expectation was that Zach and Brandon would both be re-elected. They both did a tremendous job with leadership last year and they will do a great job again this year. Jimmy Mitchell has been on the cusp of being a great leader so I'm happy for him. He has worked really hard on his leadership skills but also on being a better football player at every opportunity he gets. Everyone likes him and respects his personality and that's a big thing. You want to have guys who like each other and trust each other.
"Having a junior captain does not happen often at Lehigh," Coen continued. "What's really impressive is that in our ballots contain only seniors with the ability to write-in people. A lot of our guys obviously had to write in Sam, so that was really interesting to see. Our coaching staff feels he's ready right now to be a strong captain and his peers obviously feel the same way."
Duffy and Short were both All-Patriot League performers a season ago paving the way for a Lehigh offense that ranked sixth nationally in passing offense and ninth in total offense. Mitchell started all 12 games at nose tackles last season, finishing with 24 tackles and two sacks. McCloskey made 11 starts at strong safety, finishing with 54 tackles and a team-leading three interceptions.
After their first scrimmage of camp on August 15, the Mountain Hawks held a second scrimmage on August 20 and a third that featured primarily situational and special teams work on August 23.
"We've had a really solid camp with just a couple days left," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen explained. "The defense has done some really good things. Our kicking game is starting to come around and the offense has really just picked up from where they were a year ago."
Lehigh's offense has looked sharp throughout camp with eight starters returning, including a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in seniors Troy Pelletier and Gatlin Casey; a 1,000-yard rusher in junior Dominick Bragalone; along with four-fifths of the offensive line.
Both of Lehigh's top two quarterbacks, junior Brad Mayes and senior Matt Timochenko have performed well throughout camp. The two question marks facing Lehigh's offense during camp were at slot receiver, with the graduations of Derek Knott and Trevor Socarras, and the vacant spot on the offensive line.
"Sasha Kelsey got back on the field and is ready to play football again," Coen said. "He looks great and has done a really nice job. The combination of Sasha and Luke Christiano I think we're really solid there. Another freshman guy who really popped up is Jorge Portorreal and he's really nice job. We've got a really good group of wideouts."
Among several offensive linemen who have enjoyed strong camps, Coen noted freshman Jackson Evans, who could end up in the mix at guard.
"He's had a really good camp and that's something that's really hard to do as an offensive lineman – to be a starter at this level (as a freshman) – but he has done a great job and has a good chance to help us there," Coen said.
Defensively, Coen has seen improvement as the unit continues to compete at a high level while battling an offense that ranked in the top 10 in the FCS last year on a daily basis throughout camp.
"At times we might not look very good because our offense is so strong, but the defense always competes," Coen noted. "That's what I love about these guys. We're going to have some young defensive players definitely on special teams. There's probably going to be some young players in the secondary who are going to have to take some reps here and there. What I like about those kids is that they are so competitive. They compete against each other every time were out here and that's great to see."
Linebacker has been the major area of interest, with several younger players stepping up and catching the eyes of the coaching staff.
"Keith Woetzel and Jon Seighman are two sophomores who have done a really nice job for us at linebacker," Coen said. "It's going to take them a little longer but freshmen Nate Norris and Pete Haffner have done a really good job. By the time the season ends I think those two guys are going to find themselves on the field."
Expectations remain high after a title in 2016 and being picked first in the league's preseason poll last month, but Coen feels like the Mountain Hawks are in a good spot as camp winds down.
"We have a lot of veteran guys back," Coen said. "This was a very good group of kids that really wanted to get back here and help their teammates win another championship. That's a hard task. I've told the team that winning this championship is going to be harder than the one last year but our guys are moving in that direction.
"We're not too high or too low," Coen added. "That's the way you want your football team to be. Our guys are very inspired to play a very good Villanova team. I think we'll have a really good group of fans and alumni coming back for that game and we're excited to be playing it at home."
The camp portion of preseason ends with the annual Alumni Steak Fry on Sunday. The Mountain Hawks will be off Monday for their first day of the fall semester and will resume their traditional in-season schedule with a practice next Tuesday in preparation for next weekend's season opener.
The 17th-ranked Mountain Hawks will open the 2017 season against No. 10/9 Villanova on Saturday, September 2 at 12:30 p.m. at Goodman Stadium. Tickets to that game and all Lehigh home football games can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting LehighTickets.com.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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