Football Position Battle Moves Into Final Week

August 17, 2005

Weatherford, Oklahoma - Southwestern Oklahoma State continues to fine tune its two-a-day workouts in preparation for the 2005 football opener Thursday, Aug. 25 against Oklahoma Panhandle State .

New coach Ryan Held and his staff have set about overhauling last year’s roster with hopes of producing a sleeker, more effective offense while tweaking a defense that was among the team’s strong points in 2004.

“We’ve had two good weeks of practice,” Held said. “Our players have responded. We asked them to come out here compete, give 110% effort, and for the most part they have.”

SWOSU will line up offensively with seven new starters, including true freshman Stephen Day at quarterback. The Edmond Santa Fe product won the starting job over Panhandle State transfer Britten Nies and Beau Doson, last year’s starter.

Day threw for 1,681 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior and led Santa Fe to the Class 6A state championship game. More recently, he threw a pair of touchdown passes in leading the West squad to a victory in the Oklahoma Coaches Association All-State Game.

"For Stephen to win the job in 10 days of practice is simply amazing," Held said. “He makes good reads, he’s calm and knows how to move the team down the field."

SWOSU will have five new ball carriers who will take turns at improving a rushing attack that finished last in the Lone Star Conference a year ago, averaging just over 35 yards a game.

True freshman Terry Sampson and junior college transfer Norm Freeman are expected to carry the bulk of the load. Sampson, a recent graduate of Lancaster High School in Texas, rushed for over 1,500 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior. Freeman was the eighth leading rusher in the California Junior College ranks at Yuba Junior College with 1,150 yards on 223 carries. Will Freeman, a recent graduate of Putnam City West, has impressed in early workouts with his abilities to break tackles. Kevin Holmes and Steve Ihekona will also get a chance at running the ball.

The team’s two top receivers, Chase Pratt and Danny Howard, are back for their final seasons. Pratt, who has been bothered by a sore ankle in workouts, is already the school’s all-time leader in receptions (107) and yards (1,810). Howard had his best year of his career last season when he led the Bulldogs in catches (32) and yards (533).

Much of the off season has been spent on shoring up an offensive line whose development will be critical if the Bulldogs are to make meaningful gains. So much attention compelled offensive coordinator Brett Hauser to move into the trenches with the big guys after tutoring the quarterbacks and running backs a year ago.

"We knew the O-Line was our main area in which we needed to get better," Held said. "We’ve gone out and gotten a bigger, more physical, and more athletic player."

Center Drew Rigsby and guard Thomas Grant won their starting jobs back while the other positions will be filled by junior college transfer Michael Whalen at right guard, true freshman Talite Sika and right tackle and Brandon Guptill, a starter in 2003 at left tackle.

It’s no secret that the Bulldogs should be good on defense. In fact some areas, such as the defensive line, they may be just plain dominating.

"We surely will make some big plays defensively,” Held said. “We certainly have room for improvement. Our goal is to establish a more consistent attack play-after-play and not give up any long plays.”

Seven regulars – including pre-season All-American defensive end Terry Joiner – return for a defense that ranked among the leaders in the Lone Star conference.

Joiner, along with defensive line starters Roddrick Sheppard, Colt Allison and Jonathan Dobrinski, should continue to play havoc with opposing quarterbacks in 2005. The foursome had a combined 24 sacks in 2004, 11 of which were to league leader Joiner.

Senior Michael Hart, after starting three years at safety, moves along side fellow classmate Sean Cole to anchor the linebacker position. Observers should not overlook the possibility of returning starter Josh Musick to rejoin the team at his linebacker position if his hardship case concerning an extra year of eligibility is granted by the NCAA.

Only cornerback Jonathan Thomas returns in a defensive secondary that will feature three new starters and all new backups. Despite the inexperience at the position, the Bulldogs are confident the right people are in place.

“We are better at almost each and every position,” Held said. “We’re going to continue to be aggressive, create turnovers, score when we can, and setup our offense.”

SWOSU, who was picked fifth in the six-team Lone Star Conference North Division Preseason Poll, will play 11 games this season with six being at home in Milam Stadium.