Captains named as Lehigh football winds down camp portion of preseason
8/23/2016 10:00:00 PM | Football
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With the camp portion of its preseason winding down, the Lehigh football team held its third and final scrimmage of camp on a comfortable Tuesday evening on the John C. Whitehead practice fields. On a night where the focus was on situational work with some special teams mixed in, the Mountain Hawks' defense showed improvement with a solid all-around performance.
"The defense really made strides," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "In the beginning of camp the offense was really dominant and the defense has really been working at it and getting better. What I'm hoping for is we get this thing going into the season that we get some of our best competition in practice. That's what good teams do."
(8/23/2016) Football Scrimmage, 8/23/16
In addition to the normal full-field 11-on-11 work, Tuesday's scrimmage included a situational third down period, red zone work, the offense backed up deep in its end as well as four and two-minute drills.
The defense, which rebounded from an early wake-up call from the coaching staff in Saturday's second scrimmage, had a strong night with the front seven generating good pressure on Lehigh quarterbacks. The Mountain Hawks also came up with a pair of takeaways as freshman Marqius Wilson jumped an out route for an interception to end the third down period and sophomore Kareem Montgomery halted a two minute drill with a pick.
"I credit the staff," Coen said of the defensive effort. "They've been working hard at it, trying to figure things out. We still moved the ball but we turned it over a couple of times. Penalties really hurt us. The second group gave up a lot of pressure. We tried to play a lot of younger guys offensively and the result was a lot of pressure on the quarterback."
On the offensive side, freshman Brad Mayes led the second offense to an early score, connecting with junior Gatlin Casey. The first offense also successfully killed the clock in a four minute offense as senior Nick Shafnisky hit junior Sasha Kelsey for a big gain to convert a third down, while tough running by junior Nana Amankwah-Ayeh helped keep the clock running.
Tuesday's scrimmage came on the heels of a double session on Monday. At the conclusion of Monday's afternoon practice, Coen announced four seniors as captains for the 2016 season: Shafnisky, offensive linemen Zach Duffy and Brandon Short, and linebacker Colton Caslow.
"They're all good choices," Coen said. "Caslow is really the bell cow for us on defense. The other three guys are offensive players. Nick is a really passionate guy. Zach Duffy and Brandon Short are two of the hardest-working most level-headed guys in our program. It's a really good mix of leaders. What was really good was seeing how many kids received votes and that shows to me that the future looks good in terms of our leadership and also that there are a lot of kids already here who understand what leadership is all about."
With first-year student orientation set to begin Thursday afternoon, Lehigh hold its final double session of camp on Wednesday and will have single practices Thursday morning and Friday afternoon leading into Saturday's mock game. Coen said the Mountain Hawks will begin working in preparation for the season-opener against Monmouth over the next few days as they like to get eight or nine days of preparation for game one.
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 Mountain Hawks will open the 2016 season against the Monmouth Hawks on Saturday, September 3 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 the camp portion of its preseason winding down, the Lehigh football team held its third and final scrimmage of camp on a comfortable Tuesday evening on the John C. Whitehead practice fields. On a night where the focus was on situational work with some special teams mixed in, the Mountain Hawks' defense showed improvement with a solid all-around performance.
"The defense really made strides," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "In the beginning of camp the offense was really dominant and the defense has really been working at it and getting better. What I'm hoping for is we get this thing going into the season that we get some of our best competition in practice. That's what good teams do."
In addition to the normal full-field 11-on-11 work, Tuesday's scrimmage included a situational third down period, red zone work, the offense backed up deep in its end as well as four and two-minute drills.
The defense, which rebounded from an early wake-up call from the coaching staff in Saturday's second scrimmage, had a strong night with the front seven generating good pressure on Lehigh quarterbacks. The Mountain Hawks also came up with a pair of takeaways as freshman Marqius Wilson jumped an out route for an interception to end the third down period and sophomore Kareem Montgomery halted a two minute drill with a pick.
"I credit the staff," Coen said of the defensive effort. "They've been working hard at it, trying to figure things out. We still moved the ball but we turned it over a couple of times. Penalties really hurt us. The second group gave up a lot of pressure. We tried to play a lot of younger guys offensively and the result was a lot of pressure on the quarterback."
On the offensive side, freshman Brad Mayes led the second offense to an early score, connecting with junior Gatlin Casey. The first offense also successfully killed the clock in a four minute offense as senior Nick Shafnisky hit junior Sasha Kelsey for a big gain to convert a third down, while tough running by junior Nana Amankwah-Ayeh helped keep the clock running.
Tuesday's scrimmage came on the heels of a double session on Monday. At the conclusion of Monday's afternoon practice, Coen announced four seniors as captains for the 2016 season: Shafnisky, offensive linemen Zach Duffy and Brandon Short, and linebacker Colton Caslow.
"They're all good choices," Coen said. "Caslow is really the bell cow for us on defense. The other three guys are offensive players. Nick is a really passionate guy. Zach Duffy and Brandon Short are two of the hardest-working most level-headed guys in our program. It's a really good mix of leaders. What was really good was seeing how many kids received votes and that shows to me that the future looks good in terms of our leadership and also that there are a lot of kids already here who understand what leadership is all about."
With first-year student orientation set to begin Thursday afternoon, Lehigh hold its final double session of camp on Wednesday and will have single practices Thursday morning and Friday afternoon leading into Saturday's mock game. Coen said the Mountain Hawks will begin working in preparation for the season-opener against Monmouth over the next few days as they like to get eight or nine days of preparation for game one.
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 Mountain Hawks will open the 2016 season against the Monmouth Hawks on Saturday, September 3 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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