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Sunday's Word: Heat

Preseason practices are underway, and although this weekend has featured record-breaking "heat", with report #1 and report #2 coming in from Lehighsports.com on preseason practice it's beginning to look a lot like football season.

This tails in with my own "heat" - this weekend, I ended up with a 103 degree fever as I returned from vacation. (We think it might have been "heat" exhaustion.) Fortunately for Lehigh (and unlike myself), despite the brutal conditions everyone seems to be holding up just fine for preseason training.

The Mountain Hawks went through a three-hour session in helmets and shoulder pads on the Goodman Campus and even with the sticky weather, fourth-year head coach Andy Coen was pleased with what he saw. “Weather like this will really tax you, but I thought the guys showed good energy and really fought through it.” He continued, “It’s obviously very early, but I like what I have seen from this group so far. Guys are working hard and everyone has come with a good mindset and lots of energy.”

After the Mountain Hawks coaching staff ran the team through a number of drills, the Lehigh offense lined up versus the defense for a series of plays that generated plenty of excitement on both sides of the ball. “We need guys to continue to execute the fundamentals and to learn their assignments,” Coen commented. “I really like what the defensive front has been doing out here. Junior DE David Brown has looked very strong in the early going and that’s exciting, and senior DT BJ Benning continues to be a playmaker. And I really like this freshmen class, particularly the skill players.”

Coen offered his thoughts on the younger Lehigh offensive players. “Freshman WR James Flynn and freshman WR Ryan Spadola both had a few nice catches for us today, and freshman TE Jamel Haggins caught a touchdown down there as well; he’s got a lot of potential with his size and athleticism.”

He went onto add, “We had a lot of our young linemen in there and overall they did a nice job; they battled all afternoon. The young running backs looked good in there, too. Overall the offense looked sharp in the beginning and they looked to have the upper hand, but the defense came back towards the end, particularly our front. Freshman DB Bryan Andrews returned the one interception for a touchdown, so there were a lot of good things going on out here on both sides of the ball.”

Look for more later on this week, as I recover from the "heat".
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