One step ahead

By Duane Cochran
For the Times West Virginian

FAIRMONT August 17, 2008 12:29 am

— Fairmont State coach Mike Lopez and his staff saw what it wanted to see from its football team Saturday afternoon at Duvall-Rosier Field in the Falcons’ second situational scrimmage of fall camp.
However, they did it in a manner different than they first intended.
In a staff meeting just prior to the 92-play scrimmage, Lopez’s coaching staff talked the second-year boss into going full-scale live, even with the first-team units, which is something he doesn’t like to do.
“The coaches felt like all of our guys needed to hit,” said Lopez. “I trusted their judgment and as it turned out things went pretty well for us. I believe we did need to bang on one another a little bit. The guys got it out of their system now and we got out of it pretty much unscathed so that’s always a plus.”
As expected, FSU’s offense was a bit ahead of the defense in the scrimmage, but the Falcon defenders did have their moments during the two-hour workout. Starting linebacker Dan Dario recorded two sacks, while fellow linebacker Arlo Sterling had one. Safety J.J. Mayer intercepted a pass and returned it 17 yards, while linebacker Nate Black recovered a fumble near the goal line.
On special teams, kicker Alex Ashley booted a pair of 32-yard field goals and one from 33 yards out, while punter Ben Landis averaged 43.7 yards per punt on three attempts. He did suffer one blocked punt which wide receiver Perry Baker returned a short distance for a touchdown.
Offensively, though, Fairmont’s first unit appeared solid in the scrimmage. Sophomore quarterback Vick Bradford was intercepted once, but did connect on 9 of 13 passes for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns to junior college transfer Travis Hawthorne. Bradford also rushed for 21 yards on 14 carries.
“We did good today, but as always there is a lot of room for improvement,” said Bradford. “The key for us is to stay focused.”
Counting today FSU will have 11 more days to prepare for its Aug. 28 opener on the road at 6 p.m. against Clarion (Pa.) University. Bradford says having the extra practice time this fall will be a plus for the team.
“Having more time means more repetitions for all of us and that can only make you better,” he said. “There’s no doubt we’re tired at times, but we know in the long run having extra time this season to prepare is going to make us a better team.”
Bradford spread the football around in the scrimmage. Demetrius Davis, the team’s leading returning receiver, caught two passes for 43 yards and ran the ball once for 30 yards. Baker caught a pair of passes for 41 yards, while Hawthorne hauled in a pair of TD passes for 40 yards. His first touchdown catch went for 37 yards, while his second came from three yards out.
Zack Page also had two catches for 24 yards and Stephan Johnson added one for six. The first-team offense was led on the ground by sophomore running back Doug Brazill, who finished with 38 yards on eight attempts.
Hawthorne is a 6-3, 210-pound transfer from Phoenix College where he played for former West Virginia University standout Dale Wofley. Wofley recently resigned as Phoenix College’s head football coach to take a position on Bill Stewart’s staff at WVU.
“I think we did a good job today. Now we’ve got to keep working hard and keep progressing and hopefully we can have a really good season,” said Hawthorne. “I feel like I’m fitting in real well here coming from a junior college. Everyone has helped me make the adjustment and I’m having a lot of fun.
“The receivers on this team, I think, are very solid. They’ve definitely helped me out so far. I think we have some talent on this team and some guys who can make plays for us.”
Backup quarterback Derek Taylor completed 9 of 15 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown, a six-yarder to Leo Thomas. Redshirt freshman receiver Derek Sevier led the second unit with four catches for 71 yards. Redshirt freshman running back Micah Bigelow paced the ground attack with five carries for 31 yards and one score. He also ran the ball three times with the first-team unit for 18 yards.
Third-string quarterback Darius Green, who is normally a receiver for FSU, completed 5 of 7 passes for 49 yards and one touchdown, a three-yarder to true freshman Logan Seabolt. Green also caught a pair of passes with the second-team unit for 20 yards.
The Falcons are scheduled to go through another situational scrimmage on Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m.

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