The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team combined for the first practice in pads of the 2018 fall camp on Thursday, August 16th. After three days of split practices with newcomers and returners practicing at separate times, the full squad took the field for a nearly two-hour workout. The practice was up-tempo and featured a number of full contact drills. The practice also wrapped up with the program’s traditional three-on-three “inside” drill.
“I think it was a great day in terms of getting everyone together and showing them what our expectations are,” Cru Head Coach Pete Fredenburg said. “We really wanted to have all of the players together so they could see the way we do things in a practice like this. Not all of our execution was great, but we did get a chance to see some really good things today and we can build on that.”
Working out in full pads also gave the coaching staff a better opportunity to evaluate the quarterback competition. With the top three players at that position from last year’s final depth chart gone from the program, the Cru is looking for someone to step up and win the job. Returners Will Chaney and Michael Dearman are competing with a pair of transfers, Luke Poorman (Mount Union) and Jace Hammack (Abilene Christian) for the starting spot. All four players took snaps with the #1 offense on Thursday and they all showed promise at times.
“I think they’ve grown a lot since that first day of practice because that was a little bit rocky,” Cru senior wide receiver T.J. Josey said. “I have seen a lot of improvement and there are good players there. It also makes it more fun for me because that has allowed me to concentrate on playing receiver because we have some players there who can lead this team.”
The team will practice Saturday morning and Sunday evening before returning to its normal practice schedule next week with the start of classes on Monday, August 20th. The returners will scrimmage a team from Mexico at Crusader Stadium on Friday, August 24th, at 6:00 PM at Crusader Stadium. That will be the team’s only chance to face outside competition before kicking off the 2018 season at home at Albright College on September 8th.
