Captains Corner

In anticipation for the season opener against powerhouse Wesley this weekend, head coach Matt Kelchner has had to make decisions at key positions.  Last year, both the quarterback and running back positions were in flux throughout the season, due to unfortunate injuries.

This year, at least at quarterback, the decision has been made.

“Matt [Long] is right now the number one quarterback,” said Kelchner.  “He’ll go into it starting and we’ll play it from there.”  Long started last season, but was hampered by a knee injury.

That’s not to say that other players haven’t been given consideration.

“Christian Woelfel-Monsivais and Aaron Edwards have had good preseasons, [Antonio] Epps has played it,” said Kelchner, adding that Epps has also been playing some wideout in preseason.

While Long looks to be the go-to quarterback come Saturday, the decision hasn’t been so simple at running back.

“Right now we’ve got four running backs listed on the depth chart ready to play at tailback, and we’ve got two or three listed that are h-back,” said Kelchner.  He’ll rotate players throughout the game, keeping everybody as fresh as possible through the final whistle.

“I want to give two or three guys a chance to play who haven’t played much at that position and see what they do in a game situation,” said Kelchner.  “We’ve got some talent, we’ve got some experience there, but we don’t have a lot of quality reps at tailback.”

When I asked if he’s been working all of those players throughout the preseason, he answered immediately—“Every one of them.  They’re all getting reps.  They’re all gonna be ready to play.”

Look for some hungry players in the backfield this weekend, all of them with something to prove.


Some images from Tuesday's practice:

I’ll be out of town this weekend, so look for a football recap next week, as well as the beginning of coverage of the rest of the CNU fall sports.  Go Captains!