Badgers Defense Is Ahead, As They Should Be  

The Snow College Badgers have met the mid-point for spring drills in 2007 as they finished last week’s action with a situational scrimmage that featured drills that simulated conditions in the red zone, on third down as well as a great deal of special teams work.

“The scrimmage went well. Both sides of the ball had good and bad. The main goal for these scrimmages is to raise awareness in our players of these critical situations that occur during the game so that we can effectively produce when these situations present themselves.”

To this point the defense has been ahead of the offense. Although the defense lists zero returning starters, they have many players who saw extensive game action last fall.

“Our defense is ahead, as they should be. They have to continue to play sound, gap-control defense, place pressure on the quarterback and be relentless in their pursuit. They have done well so far, but they must keep it up.”

In baseball, they say you should be strong up the middle and that is exactly what the Badgers are on defense. On the 1st team, Snow College possesses perhaps the best defensive tackle combination in the country with Tevita Hola and David Tufuga playing in front of middle linebacker, Josh Sharp. Sharp who ran a 4.64 40 is and has been one of the hardest workers in the Badger program for the past two seasons.

On the edge of the defense, the Badgers remain fierce with Coleby Clawson playing the weak-side end and with Steve Paea who plays the strong-side.

Tough competition is showing at the Stud ‘backer (strong-side linebacker) with Josh Anderson, Tu Tui and Reggie Green battling for playing time. At the Will (weak-side linebacker) position, 2003 starter Shane Hunter who recently returned from an LDS mission and red-shirt, AJ VanValkenburg have been playing at a high level all spring.

In the secondary, defensive coordinator Justin DeCol who also coaches the defensive backs faces the challenge of replacing all of his players like the other positions, but returns less experience. Andrew Rich who signed with Snow College in 2004 but left for an LDS mission before enrolling in school has been a tremendous player thus far. James Freed, Dan Sumko and Preston Hadley have also played well for the Badgers.

And while, the defense has been tremendous, Coach Coburn has seen some good from the offense as well.

“We have speed at the skill positions for sure. The biggest task that the offense has to do is to be more consistent. That could go for all players on the team, but on offense if you have one or two breakdowns an entire play could end in a negative result.”

Offensively, the question everybody is asking is who is going to replace Cade Cooper, last year’s National Player of the Year. Jordan Douglas and Brady Zimmerman have been taking an equal number of snaps at quarterback with the 1st and 2nd teams. They alternate between the two teams daily. No clear-cut choice has been selected although they have both played well.

“I am not cheering for any one player – it is all about results. We want the right guy to lead this program. And the right guy is the one who is a leader by always doing the right things on and off of the field, the guy who gets the ball into the end zone and the guy who takes care of the football.”

Soni Sotele, the only player returning with experience at running back, is receiving most of the carries with the 1st team. Former North Sanpete star, Tyson Church, Alex Price, and Dean Takai have all seen action as well. Jorge Lopez has been with the 1st Team at fullback all spring.

Joseph Sawyer, who redshirted last season, is the 1st team tight end and has had a solid spring thus far as he has been working to get himself in position to be on the field for every snap, which is a requirement for Snow College tight ends. Jake Layton has been running with the 2nd team.

The wide receiver position, which is the most experienced along the offensive side of the ball, has gotten better this off-season. Returning starters, Adam Frandsen and Troy Cumings have both had solid springs. Kimball Burton, Regan Buck, Sam Thomas and Kyle Hatch have also played well in the spring. The speed in this unit certainly has to be close to the top in the country.

Last, but not least – the offensive line. Aarron Po’uha who backed up both tackle and guard spots last season saw significant playing time as a true freshman and will anchor the offensive line for the Badgers at left tackle. Jason Griswold, a 2003 starter who also recently returned from an LDS mission, is playing center. Isileli Pau’u, Oliver Poloa, Casey Hatch, Chris Heaps, Nuku Fevanga, Mike Price and others have all been battling for spots along the front line for the Badgers.

In regards to special teams, Jeff Wright returns as the team’s punter and has been booming the ball thus far in spring. Alex Sweat has been handling the kicking chores and a number of other players are getting an opportunity to contribute in this critical area of the game. Snow College blocked 12 kicks in 2006 and hopes to better that number in 2007 with its aggressive mentality in the kicking game.

When asked about a lack of experience returning, Coach Coburn pointed out that every year the Badgers return few because not only do they lose players to graduation, but they also lose significant numbers to LDS missions as well.

“We don’t rebuild at Snow College. We reload. Our expectation this season is to win every game, win the conference and to win the national championship. We will never be a program that makes excuses for substandard performance. Our players must understand this point. Hey, they are representing over 80 years of Badger football tradition and I don’t think the guys that laid the groundwork would want anything else.”

The Badgers close out spring drills on April 21st with their annual Blue-White game. The game is set for a 12:00 PM kickoff and it will feature a Polynesian Plate Lunch. More information will follow.

Snow College, founded in 1888, serves approximately 3,000 students at its Ephraim campus. The college provides general education and applied technology programs leading to Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Applied Science and Associate of Pre-Engineering degrees, and certificates of completion in a number of occupational areas.  Once owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Snow College became a state college in 1932.

  # # #