The Huntsville Item, Huntsville, TX

Sports

Related Photos

  • D.J. Shafer

    images_sizedimage_113231335

Discussion

April 23, 2009

Trying something new

Injuries force Bearkats to change spring game format

By Cody Stark

It’s not going to be the typical Orange and White game Saturday morning at Bowers Stadium. That’s because the injury bug has really bitten the Sam Houston State football team hard this spring.

The Bearkats are down to one quarterback, two running backs and have a handful of other guys wearing street clothes. So instead of playing the typical first team versus the second team, the spring game will be offense versus defense.

Sam Houston State got the news this week that sophomore Jeff Welch, who was competing for the starting quarterback job with junior Bryan Randolph, is going to be out for the year. Welch tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during Sunday afternoon’s scrimmage.

The injury came when Welch tried to plant his foot so he could cut back to midfield during a play. No contact was involved in the injury.

So that leaves the Kats with Randolph as the only scholarship quarterback on the roster along with walk-on Weston Glasser .

“We have just been unfortunate this spring,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said Wednesday. “We lost Jeff Welch to an injury. We are down to one quarterback now. We have two freshman coming in, but we will probably add a couple of more guys into the mix between now and the fall. We are down to (James) Aston and Will Clay in the backfield, so we are just really, really thin. We are going to have to be careful with what we do on Saturday.

“We obviously can’t play the spring game the way we normally do because we don’t have enough to split into two teams, so we are going to go offense versus the defense,” the coach added. “We are going to come up with a scoring system Saturday. The defense will get points for turnovers, stops and three-and-outs. The offense will get scoring points and stuff like that. It will be fun.”

Injuries aside, it is kind of fitting that the spring game comes down to a battle between the offense and defense.

The offense picked apart the defense in the first spring scrimmage, as Randolph threw for more than 240 yards and three touchdowns. Aston and Torian Wilkins, who will miss the spring game, combined to rush for 130 yards as the defense was struggling to learn the new schemes brought in by defensive coordinator Scott Stoker.

“I think Bryan Randolph has had a really good spring,” Whitten said. “With Aston and (Chris) Poullard, we are going to be solid in the backfield. The offensive line has really done a good job. I would like to see them continue to do well on Saturday. We have some spots still up for grabs and we want to evaluate the young guys.”

The shoe was on the other foot Sunday. After failing to intercept a pass in the first scrimmage, the Bearkats had two in the second, including one which was returned 32 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Luke McCall.

Stoker’s defense is very aggressive with a ton of different blitz packages and the Kats got to the quarterbacks six times Sunday.

“We have had a real physical spring. It wasn’t perfect, but it was productive,” Whitten said. “We have a new defensive scheme in and I think the guys have responded well to that. It’s going to be fun to watch them get after it.”

The offense 1, the defense 1. Saturday is the rubber match and somebody is going to have all summer to brag about it.

“You always want to beat the defense and it is always fun to have bragging rights over them,” Aston said Wednesday. “It has been back and forth this spring. We win one day, they win the next day. I think if we go out there and execute, I don’t see why we can’t beat them.”

The spring game is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Text Only
Sports
  • 2-11-kriston-driving.jpg Hornets still rocking

    The Hornets knocked off another one Friday night and improved their playoff chances immensely. Led by seniors Kriston Minor and Abram Veasey, the Huntsville boys basketball team bounced the Bulldogs from Summer Creek 52-38 to improve to 6-7 in District 18-4A play.

    February 10, 2012 1 Photo

  • Bulldogs back in the playoffs

    Centerville didn’t mess around with the Bulldogs Friday night and almost snuck out of New Waverly with a win.
    But thanks to junior point guard Brent Purvis making four out of five free throws at the end of the game, the Dogs came away with a 57-54 victory and solidified their third-place standing in District 23-2A.

    February 10, 2012

  • Hornet swimmers positioned well for today’s regional finals

    All the Huntsville swimmers wanted to do and needed to do in the regional swimming meet was to put themselves in position to qualify for state. Well, consider that mission accomplished. In every event in which Huntsville qualified for in the Class 4A Region V swimming meet, no matter whether it was as an individual or in a relay, the Hornets and Lady Hornets finished among the top eight in the preliminaries Friday to advance to today’s finals at the Magnolia ISD Natatorium.

    February 10, 2012

  • Hornet golfers get out to strong start in Bastrop

    Halfway into their latest tournament, the Hornets are set up well to win quite a bit of hardware. Following the first 18 holes in the Evans-Dodson Memorial golf tournament in Bastrop, the Huntsville boys are just four shots off the pace and have a pair of players within range from sitting atop the individual medalist leaderboard.

    February 10, 2012

  • Huntsville wrestlers gain experience at regional meet

    The experience wasn’t as long as they would’ve hoped, but they’ll take it just the same. Competing in the regional meet in Katy, a pair of Huntsville wrestlers earned hard-fought, elusive wins, but fell in the consolation quarterfinals.

    February 10, 2012

  • 2-10-hornet-swimming-jaron-wagner.jpg Raring to go

    They’re as ready as they’re going to be. With two weeks to prepare from their district meet, the Huntsville swimmers will take the next step toward qualifying for state today. Over the next two days, a group of Hornets and Lady Hornets will take part in the Class 4A Region V swimming meet at the Magnolia I.S.D. Natatorium with the preliminaries taking place today and the finals on Saturday.

    February 9, 2012 2 Photos

  • Next week’s playoff matchups all set

    After spending countless hours in the gym, the hard work has paid off for both the girls basketball teams from Huntsville and New Waverly. Now the fun begins as the Class 4A and 2A girls basketball playoffs get going next week.

    February 9, 2012

  • Scott: Kats still looking for go-to guy

    February 9, 2012

  • College Scene: Former Hornets doing well at respective colleges

    February 9, 2012

  • 2-9-gatlin-driving.jpg OUTGUNNED: First-place Mavericks shoot down Sam Houston, run winning streak to 14

    Texas-Arlington had an answer for every Sam Houston run Wednesday night on the way to a 75-63 victory over the Bearkats. It was the Mavericks’ 14th consecutive win and improved their Southland Conference record to 10-0.
    The last team to start league action with such perfection was Sam Houston in 2010, a team which won the conference’s regular season as well as the postseason tournament championship.

    February 8, 2012 1 Photo