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PITTSBURG —
Pittsburg head coach Tom Nickelson addressed the sometimes tricky process of analyzing a scrimmage after the Purple Dragons played their annual Purple & White game Friday night at Hutchinson Field.
“We popped a couple big ones early and if we run our offense correctly, we should get those plays,” Nickelson said. “You don’t know how much of that is good offense and how much of that is blown assignments on defense. When the opportunity’s there, you’ve got to take advantage of it. It’s never as good as it looks and it’s never as bad as it looks. We’ve got to go watch film and see where we need to improve. I know we’ve got a lot of work to do before Friday night but I was happy with their effort. We got a little tired, a little sloppy at the end but we’ve still got a week to go.”
Sophomore running back Alex Barnes broke loose for several lengthy first-down runs and one 80-yard touchdown run. Senior quarterback Spencer Bernhardt ran for a pair of long touchdowns and connected with senior receivers Kaleb Owens and Zack Woods on touchdown passes, the one with Owens a 80-yard pass, catch and run.
Barnes made his mark on the Southeast Kansas League his freshman year with a team-high 97 tackles, plus four sacks and one fumble recovery from his linebacker position. He sacked Fort Scott quarterback Johnathan Stark twice at Hutchinson Field last season when Pittsburg defeated Fort Scott 27-14 to claim a second consecutive league title.
Now, Barnes (listed at 6-foot, 192 pounds) looks as if he could be the big-play threat graduated running back Marcus Striplin gave Pittsburg its last two seasons. Barnes showcased that potential several times Friday night; he was a first-team All-SEK League selection at linebacker last year.
“Alex has got to be a player for us on both sides of the ball,” Nickelson said. “Alex’s had a great summer. He’s just a sophomore but he doesn’t play like it. He’s got a very high football IQ and plays very well for us both offensively and defensively.”
Within a year, Pittsburg feels a lot more comfortable about its kicking game. Sophomore Nick Powers came on strong during his freshman year and took over the placekicking duties in district play and Bernhardt earned an All-County selection as punter, averaging 40.8 yards per boot with his rugby-style punting approach. Powers had chances to kick Friday night.
Pittsburg head coach Tom Nickelson addressed the sometimes tricky process of analyzing a scrimmage after the Purple Dragons played their annual Purple & White game Friday night at Hutchinson Field.
“We popped a couple big ones early and if we run our offense correctly, we should get those plays,” Nickelson said. “You don’t know how much of that is good offense and how much of that is blown assignments on defense. When the opportunity’s there, you’ve got to take advantage of it. It’s never as good as it looks and it’s never as bad as it looks. We’ve got to go watch film and see where we need to improve. I know we’ve got a lot of work to do before Friday night but I was happy with their effort. We got a little tired, a little sloppy at the end but we’ve still got a week to go.”
Sophomore running back Alex Barnes broke loose for several lengthy first-down runs and one 80-yard touchdown run. Senior quarterback Spencer Bernhardt ran for a pair of long touchdowns and connected with senior receivers Kaleb Owens and Zack Woods on touchdown passes, the one with Owens a 80-yard pass, catch and run.
Barnes made his mark on the Southeast Kansas League his freshman year with a team-high 97 tackles, plus four sacks and one fumble recovery from his linebacker position. He sacked Fort Scott quarterback Johnathan Stark twice at Hutchinson Field last season when Pittsburg defeated Fort Scott 27-14 to claim a second consecutive league title.
Now, Barnes (listed at 6-foot, 192 pounds) looks as if he could be the big-play threat graduated running back Marcus Striplin gave Pittsburg its last two seasons. Barnes showcased that potential several times Friday night; he was a first-team All-SEK League selection at linebacker last year.
“Alex has got to be a player for us on both sides of the ball,” Nickelson said. “Alex’s had a great summer. He’s just a sophomore but he doesn’t play like it. He’s got a very high football IQ and plays very well for us both offensively and defensively.”
Within a year, Pittsburg feels a lot more comfortable about its kicking game. Sophomore Nick Powers came on strong during his freshman year and took over the placekicking duties in district play and Bernhardt earned an All-County selection as punter, averaging 40.8 yards per boot with his rugby-style punting approach. Powers had chances to kick Friday night.
“Nick’s worked hard all summer on that,” Nickelson said. “He’s got a much stronger leg than he had last year. He’s had one more year in the weight room and it will be nice to have a consistent kicking game. Nick can do that for us.”
Pittsburg returns starting offensive linemen Dakota Taylor (6-3, 249) and Chris Huyett (6-3, 218) and its starting linebackers Barnes, Anthony McNeely (5-11, 199), Zack Woods (6-1, 184) and Nick Vacca (6-0, 185). Nickelson was asked if the offensive linemen and linebackers form a team strength.
“They have to be, absolutely have to be,” he said. “Our offense starts and ends with our offensive line and our linebackers have to get us in the right play in the right defense and they’ve done a nice job of that so far. If you’re going to have people coming back, you want those guys because that’s the core of our team. We need those guys to play well every snap for us.”
Before practice started, Nickelson praised the players for their high commitment level during the offseason and summer. Nickelson said that commitment level has continued into the first two weeks of practice.
“We’ve got a long way to go in a lot of areas and conditioning being one,” Nickelson said. “You’re never ready for a four-quarter game until you play it but they’re showing up everyday and giving us what they’ve got.”
2012 team captains are Bernhardt, McNeely, Vacca and Taylor.
Pittsburg makes its debut next Friday night at home against Labette County, the first regular-season game played on the new turf at Hutchinson Field.
“It’s a very nice field,” Nickelson said. “I love it. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it not being alternating green but I think it looks great with all dark green. It’s the newest technology, it’s great, I love it.”
Pittsburg enters the season with a 11-game winning streak in SEK League games (dating back to 2009) and the seven teams of the SEK will play a complete round-robin league schedule for the first time since 1980.
