“We feel good about what we’ve accomplished,” Smith said. “For the most part, we’ve stayed healthy, and that was important to being able to evaluate our players. It’s impossible to find out what their skill level is if they’re standing on the sidelines.”
The Jacks’ practice routine wraps up Saturday when the offense battles the defense in the Spring Green & Gold Game at 6 p.m. in Redwood Bowl. The contest is open to the public, with free admission.
“I’ve done this before at other places, and there have been some very competitive games,” Smith said, of the game format, which features a standard scoring system for the offense and points awarded to the defense for stopping their counterparts on downs, turnovers, etc.
In his assessment of inherited talent, Smith has observed that the Jacks have a high skill level at many positions. Depth seems to be the overall issue, however, one he and his staff have addressed in their recruiting efforts and will continue to focus on prior to reporting date on Aug. 6.
On offense, the spring has featured a battle between three starting quarterback candidates that Smith expects to continue into fall camp. Returning seniors Brian Hildebrand and Garret Hubrich, along with redshirt freshman Mike Proulx, have all performed well, with little separating them thus far.
“All three have adapted well to a new offensive system,” Smith said. “It may come down to who develops the most consistent decision making. At some point before the season begins, we will identify one starter.”
In the backfield, returners Bobby Thomas and Joevany Cueva are two experienced running backs who have fit well into the new offense. Corey Stollmeyer, a junior who redshirted last fall, will also contend for playing time, and the coaching staff has signed a group of newcomers to bring depth to the position.
An area hurt by an injury that occurred last fall is wide receiver, where Edwin Henry will be missed as he continues to recover from knee surgery. Henry will sit out this fall, and in his stead Corey Anderson, Mike Streck-Woodward and Kevin Miles are three players the Jacks will count on.
Anderson appeared in nine games last fall, catching 20 passes for 202 yards, Miles saw action in seven games, grabbing seven passes for 86 yards, while Streck-Woodard is a freshman who redshirted last fall and is doing double sports duty with the track squad this spring. Also factoring in is Tim Souza, who transferred in from Cal Lutheran last fall, and returning tight end Matt Devlin, who has an early lock on the position after seeing action in eight games last fall and impressing the coaching staff this spring.
“Matt (Devlin) has had a solid spring, and he’ll keep getting better,” Smith said. “We have a ways to go with depth, however, and we’re counting on our transfers to take care of that concern.”
One of the greatest concerns the staff had entering the spring was along the offensive line, an area that performed sub-par during last year’s 2-8 campaign and was further impacted by the graduation of three senior starters. Following a productive spring, it’s now one of the most surprising areas of progress, Smith said.
“We’re very happy with our first unit,” Smith said. “As a group, they’ve come in and worked hard. Now we’ll look to bring in some transfers who will provide depth and also push the starters.”
Leadership on the line has come from returning senior guard Bryant Kendall, and Derrick Garrett has moved over from tackle to fill the other guard slot. Making a bigger move from defense to offensive tackle is 6-2, 265-pound Lorenzo Arenas, where he’ll join returning starter fellow senior Adam Fountain. At center, Taylor Boggs, a 6-3, 275-pound sophomore who redshirted last year, takes over, and Chris Vicory, who started two games last season, is back as a senior.
Defensively, the Lumberjacks have some firm answers and also a few big questions. One area of uncertainty should be addressed in the fall with the return of senior linebacker Allen Brunner, who has been unavailable throughout the spring due to an injury.
“Adding Brunner back in will be a big help,” said Smith, about the Jacks’ leading tackler with 88 total in 2007. “But what is obvious as a group is that all of our linebackers can run. They can play fast, which is a good quality to have.”
Among the speedsters are returning seniors Calvin Robinson, who has filled in at middle in Brunner’s absence, and outside backers Justin Calcote and Justin Hornsby. Calcote had 31 tackles in 2007 while Hornsby utilized a redshirt campaign.
On the defensive line, returning seniors Brad Hunkins, Desmond Maxwell, Johnny Terrell, Justin Rose and Hasan Shadeed form a veteran “lunch pail” group, as described by Smith. All have displayed a strong work ethic this spring, but the lack of a dominant inside player is one of the issues that warrants further attention.
In the secondary, Barry Davis is the only Jack player with DII experience at corner, and Wes Montgomery has moved over from safety to cornerback to further shore up the position. Jeff Williams is back at safety, and Blyth Colbert will join him from the redshirt ranks.
An impressive addition who transferred in this spring is Dan Compton, a 6-2 senior out of Santa Ana JC who is expected to contribute significantly at safety. “(Compton) is tall, and he can cover a lot of ground,” Smith said.
The final area Smith and staff have taken a look at this spring is the kicking game, where punter Kyle Schierholt returns for his junior year and placekicker Enrique Leyva comes in as a junior after sitting out 2007. “They’re both talented players, but we’ll bring in some competition for them through our recruiting,” Smith said.
Following Saturday’s Spring Green & Gold game, HSU’s coaches will begin further preparation for the 2008 season, which opens Aug. 30 on the road against DI-AA Sacramento State. Despite his staff’s short time with the program, Smith believes HSU will be highly competitive in the re-formed Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
“The players have been receptive to the system we’ve brought in and the structure,” Smith said. “They’ve been responsive to our demands.
“What we can realistically accomplish this fall is for others to decide, but we’re not conceding anything. We expect to put a team on the field that can compete for the GNAC championship.”
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