Army Football - Summer Central: Inside the Huddle

INSIDE THE HUDDLE

The Black Knights completed their first intrasquad scrimmage on the heals of the New Cadets being "accepted" into the Corp of Cadets, made for a very long day for the freshmen football players. And clearly the temperatures did not help, but that's college football and the preparation process for the 2009 season continued for Coach Ellerson and the Black Knights.

GoBlackKnight.com takes a look inside today' scrimmage and provides some of the salient points that unfolded this afternoon at Michie Stadium.

At the end of the day, if you never heard of Stephen Anderson, here is what will be the common comments shared by those particular fans ... "That #50 can hit like hell".

Defensive tackle, Mike Gann was probably the most recognized presence on the field today for the defense.

The feeling is ... that once freshman Derek Bisgard adjusts to his new position inside (DT), he is going to have an outstanding football career at Army.

Speaking of freshmen defenders; Jarrett Mackey is making his presence felt at the Quick-defensive end spot and should be pushing for playing time right out of the gate.

There's not too much to say about the play of the defensive backs, especially at corner, because there wasn't a lot of passing.

Ali Villanueva, Ian Smith and Lonnie Liggins were sidelined for today's scrimmage - dinged up a little.

Liggins probably could have laced them up, but the coaches seem pleased with Liggins' performance thus far, so holding him out makes a lot of sense.

Freshman QB, Trent Steelman was solid in some areas; although his timing was off at other times, which seems to be more a result of receiving consistent reps with one unit versus reps with another unit. Steelman made running look easy and looked good running the option and made quality decisions when it was time to take off and run.

The most impressive play on the day for Steelman wasn't about a score or yardage gain, but when a linebacker came through the gap and lowered a hard hit on the frosh; he did not turn it over.

Linebacker, Corey Laufasa was also very active on defense today and freshman defensive back, James Whittington came up to make a big hit.

Slot-back Patrick Mealy showed good execution on the pitch.

Sophomore QB Max Jenkins was solid on his decision making throughout the day.

Sophomore Andre Shinda looked good blitzing through the day, while freshman Jarrett Mackey blew up several offensive plays from his defensive end position and absolutely to Coach Mumford's liking, who encouraged the frosh after the plays.

Freshman cornerback Josh Jackson continues to shine, but needs to be careful in trying to jump every route as often as he did today, because he will have a wake-up call at this level.

Speedster Alfred McDaniel made a nice run for 35-45 yards, which set up Malcolm Brown's eventual touchdown run. Daniel is a really good pick-up by the Army staff.

B-back Bryson Carl showed some of his old self and was running extremely hard today and Mealy saw some time at the B-Back, as well as the slot.

Jonathan Bulls had an awesome day punting and should be an asset for the team overall.

Wide receiver Matt Vane showed that he has outstanding hands. The challenge for Vane, as it was last year for all of the Army receivers with the exception of Damion Hunter is what happens after the catch.

In Vane's case, his YAC was non-existent and something that he and all the receivers will need to make happen this season.

The final touchdown of the day was a 15 yard TD from Max Jenkins to Austin Barr.