Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh holds scrimmage on Sunday afternoon
8/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Under near perfect conditions on the John C. Whitehead practice fields, Lehigh held practice number-ten on Sunday afternoon as it continued its preparations for the upcoming season. The Mountain Hawks held a scrimmage that allowed head coach Andy Coen the opportunity to see the 2008 team in live game action with officials. “The kids gave great effort today; there was some good give-and-take between both sides of the ball. I feel pretty good about what went on out here today.”
Lehigh ran 70 plays during Sunday’s scrimmage and Coen saw plenty to be happy about on both sides of the ball. “The offense was able to move the ball, especially in the passing game so that was a good sign. And the defense was able to get good pressure on the quarterbacks.”
Coen then singled out a pair of Mountain Hawks that caught his eye during the scrimmage. “Freshman De’Vaughn Gordon did some good things on our kick-off return unit as we search for a back-up to (sophomore kick returner) John Kennedy. Jason Leo punted the ball very well and had nice ‘pop’ on his field goal attempts.” He went onto say, “The defense ran to the ball well, they played very strong against the run; there were a few missed tackles, some things we need to improve, but we’ll keep working.”
Kennedy gave his thoughts on how the scrimmage unfolded. "I thought it went pretty good. Both sides of the ball made plays. On defense, I thought we played physical and really ran to the ball." He then commented on how preseason camp has gone up to this point. "It's gone well. Everyday we're getting better, we're building the chemistry of the team, and we're excited about what is still to come."
Junior Chris Bokosky and sophomore J.B. Clark each had their moments under center on Sunday, as the pair of quarterbacks worked versus the Lehigh defense. Bokosky led the Mountain Hawk “O” on a long drive that resulted in a touchdown, while Clark showed off his arm with several impressive throws that moved the chains. “They’re both progressing,” Coen explained. “Chris had his moments out here today and so did J.B.”
With camp set to enter its final full week, Coen said much of the playbook has been installed and the Mountain Hawks will move to goal line and red zone situations this coming week. “We’ve had a really big stretch of practices the last few days where we got a lot of work done in terms of implementing the play book on both sides of the ball. We segmented camp with the first five practices, now this middle session, and when we get back together on Wednesday, we’ll enter the final stage.”
NOTES FROM CAMP … Coen said the general health of the team is very good. The only major injury thus far came to senior wide receiver Ben Ivester, who suffered an army injury that will keep him out for several weeks … the Mountain Hawks will hold practice in the morning and again at night on Monday, while on Tuesday the team will be off. Wednesday will mark another double session practice schedule … the team moved out of the dorms it stays in during the beginning of camp on Saturday … Saturday, August 23 marks the date of the team’s annual Media Day, which will take place inside of Goodman Stadium. On Sunday, August 24, the annual Steak Fry takes place following the Mountain Hawks final practice of preseason camp earlier that afternoon.
