Samuel says offense is showing progress in scrimmages

~ The offense made strides against the defense in Sunday's scrimmage.

After two weeks of preseason practice -- and with less than two weeks left before the opening game -- Tony Samuel is beginning to get a better grasp on his first Southeast Missouri State football team.

"We're making progress. I guess that's the best way to put it," Samuel, Southeast's first-year head coach, said Monday. "I think they're learning to play hard."

The Redhawks had their second scrimmage Sunday afternoon at Houck Stadium. Unlike Tuesday's opening scrimmage, when the defense dominated, Samuel thought the offense more than held its own this time.

"I think the offense took it to the defense basically for the first time since we've been here, which is a good sign. We were able to run the ball a bit," he said. "We had a pretty good scrimmage. I thought we learned a lot about the team.

"Some guys made some pretty good progress. Some stepped back. Some young kids, true freshmen, did some things. We'll have to take a look at that next week."

Samuel said it's still too early to tell which true freshman will see action this year and which ones might end up redshirting, but he does anticipate several among that group having an impact for the Redhawks.

Although the depth chart still figures to change quite a bit before the season opener Sept. 2 at Austin Peay, true freshmen Walter Peoples and Todshon Jones are currently listed as backups in the secondary, at free safety and cornerback, respectively.

Samuel also singled out linebackers Patrick Maloney and Joshua Jackson, defensive back Marvin Anderson and fullback Nick Grassi as true freshmen who have made their marks in practices and scrimmages.

Final scrimmage

The Redhawks will have their third and final scrimmage at 6 p.m. Saturday. It will basically serve as a dress rehearsal for the first game.

"It will be a game-type situation, getting all our ducks in order, so to speak," Samuel said. "We want to work on all the situations that might come up.

"It will be more of an organizational scrimmage. We'll do a lot, but it won't be as intense as Sunday's scrimmage."

Captains elected

Southeast players voted on captains Sunday, with two players elected on both offense and defense.

Quarterback Kevin Ballatore and wide receiver Oge Oge will be the offensive captains, while linebacker Seth Harrell and end Edgar Jones will serve as the defensive captains. All are seniors.

Samuel said the defensive players voted for the defensive captains, and the offensive players voted for the offensive captains.

"I think they made good choices," he said. "I think they [the captains] can lead us."

Divided attention

Samuel and his staff have pretty much had the Redhawks' undivided attention ever since preseason practice began Aug. 7. The players basically ate, drank and slept football from morning until night.

But that all changed Monday as classes got under way. Now the Redhawks will also have academics to worry about.

"It's a big challenge when school begins," Samuel said. "They take classes, then they come to us. School can really zap you mentally. I'm anxious to see how they respond."

Overall, Samuel said the two weeks of fall camp -- including two-a-days -- went well.

"We've pushed them hard in camp. I don't think they've been pushed like that before," he said. "Now we have to make sure they get their legs back, and they will."