By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
The usual question a high school football coach gets after spring training is "how did practice go."
Perhaps a better wording is "did the team accomplish what it needed to accomplish."
For first-year W.S. Neal Blue Eagles coach Blaine Hathcock, the answer to the latter is yes.
The W.S. Neal coach said the team he started with on day one was not the same one he finished up on day 15 of spring practice at Tuesday's spring scrimmage game against Hillcrest.
Quarterback Marquis Barksdale capped off a solid spring with a seven-for-12 performance for 90 yards with 55 more yards on the ground in Tuesday's win over Hillcrest.
Hathcock feels W.S. Neal has some depth at the running back spots with the combination of Jake Bailey, Mario Daniel, Ronald Travis and Rohin Travis.
Jonathan Alexander, Keith Weaver and Dewayne Floyd showed promise at wide receiver.
See SPRING Page 3B
tight end in our offense, but they all have the potential to be very good. The biggest thing they need to improve at is consistency," Hathcock said.
The offensive line saw the combination of Greg Minchew, Jonathan Benjamin and Spencer Williamson at center, Williamson, Cal Daniel, Allen Dun and Ryan Joiner at guard and Jared Cooper, Jamie Green and Aaron Lambert at tackle.
On the defensive side of the line, Cal Daniel and Dunn got a lot of the work up front along with Shaunathan Williams and Justin Howard at the ends.
Bailey, James Freeman, Bobby Freeman and Floyd got most of the linebacker work.
Daniel, Alexander, Ronald Travis and Weaver got most of the work in the secondary.
Although no special teams were used in the scrimmage game, Hathcock felt his club made considerable progress in that area during the spring.
The 15 spring practice days were an initiation period for the program's incoming freshmen.
Hathcock said he has also blended in well with the rest of the W.S. Neal coaching staff.