HAMMOND – Late afternoon rains pushed Southeastern Louisiana University's third football practice of fall camp into Strawberry Stadium for the first time, and lightning in the area delayed the start of practice by nearly 45 minutes, but that wasn't enough to keep the Lions from having a solid practice on Friday.
Southeastern, which will open its season on Sept. 1 at SEC newcomer Missouri, worked for the first time in shells in a spirited session that went over two hours under much cooler conditions that had greeted the Lions the previous two days.
The Lions' defense highlighted much of the day in team drills as
Kevin Roberts picked off a pair of passes while Amite's
Drew Misita and newcomer
Tommy Elliott each had an interception. Offensively,
Nathan Stanley found newcomer
Jerry Anderson on a long touchdown pass while
Sam Fairley and
Jordan Wells recorded some impressive runs.
“It was a great effort in our first day with pads on,” head coach
Ron Roberts said. “We made some mistakes, and we'll make corrections on that. But the biggest thing we talked about before coming out here was making sure we set a tempo and see how we were going to practice and carry ourselves, and our guys did a great job.”
One of the areas Southeastern looks to improve on in 2012 will be in the secondary which returns four starters, including cornerbacks
Robert Alford and
Todd Washington. The duo joins an impressive crop of players that include
Tyler Stoddard, who finished tied for the team lead in tackles as a true freshman in 2011,
Marice Sutton, Roberts plus returning letterwinners
T'Darryl Grays and
Paul Kopesky.
Guided by new defensive coordinator and safeties coach Pete Golding, a Hammond native and former All-Conference player for Roberts at Delta State, an cornerbacks coach Tyronne Williams, who moved to the defensive side of the ball after coaching the previous seven years on the offensive side, Southeastern will look for solid progress towards being one of the elite units in the Southland Conference.
“We have great players back there (in the secondary), we have good athletes and we have good coaches back there and our kids are a reflection of that,” said Roberts, “and in a short time there is a massive difference in how they play the game and what they expect to do.”
Joining the veteran players in 2012 will be redshirt freshmen
Denzel Thompson along with newcomers Elliott,
Theo Alexander,
Tiray Dove,
John Graves along with freshmen
Xavier Roberson,
Harlan Miller,
Jeff Smiley,
Cole LeBlanc and
Josh Dakin. With a serious influx of new players in the secondary, Roberts is excited about the depth the Lions will have in 2012 and that the competition will make that area better.
“Nobody is entrenched,” Roberts said. “They've got to continue to get better on a daily basis and as long as they do that, they're in pretty good shape. To me, you're competing with yourself and not with the other people around you, and you have to understand that and you have to be able to handle yourself at a mature level to know what it takes to be successful.”
Southeastern will return to action on Saturday when the team will work out in shells at 4:50 p.m. All practices are open to the public.
Season tickets for the 2012 campaign are available by calling the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or 1-866-LION-TIX. Southeastern will open its five-game home schedule on Sept. 8 against FCS member South Dakota State and will also host McNeese State (Sept. 22), Northwestern State (Oct. 13), Central Arkansas (Oct. 27) and Stephen F. Austin (Nov. 10).
2012 Southeastern Louisiana University Football Camp Schedule
(all times are subject to change)
August 4 – 4:50 p.m. (Shells)
August 5 – 4:50 p.m. (Full pads)
August 6 – 8:30 a.m. (Full pads)
August 7 – 8:30 a.m. (Full pads)
August 8 – 8:30 a.m. (Full pads); 6:50 p.m. (Shells)
August 9 – 4:50 p.m. (Full pads)
August 10 – 4:50 p.m. (Full pads)
August 11 – 10 a.m. (Special Teams); 6:50 p.m. (Scrimmage)
August 12 – OFF
August 13 – 3:30 p.m. (Full pads)
August 14 – 3:30 p.m. (Full pads)
August 15 – OFF (Classes begin)
August 16 – 3:15 p.m.
August 17 – 3:15 p.m.; 6-8 p.m. (Fan Day – Downtown Hammond)
August 18 – Noon-2 p.m. (Media Day/Picture Day); 6:50 p.m. (Scrimmage)
August 19 – 6:50 p.m.
August 20 – OFF
August 21 – 3:15 p.m.
August 22 – 3:15 p.m.
August 23 – 6:50 p.m. (Scrimmage)
August 24 – 3:30 p.m. (Situational O/D/ST)
August 25 – 10:30 a.m.
August 26 – 6:50 p.m.
