FAYETTEVILLE STATE SEEKS QUICKER START, BETTER EXECUTION
Broncos host St. Augustine’s at 6 p.m. on Saturday
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – If there’s been a common thread to Fayetteville State’s last three games, it’s been the Broncos’ inability to get off to a fast start – and an inability to keep their opponents to jumping out to big leads.
Though the Broncos have spent the better part of the second half of each of their last two games making their opponent sweat a lot more than the halftime score suggested it ever would, what’s been lost in the start to Fayetteville State’s season is the clear fact that the team is improving as the season progresses.
And with just one CIAA conference game having been played, there’s still plenty of time for the Broncos to make one of their patented late-season runs.
“There is still a lot of football left to be played,” says Fayetteville State head coach Kenny Phillips. “And we’re pretty healthy, probably the healthiest we’ve been since before the first game of the year.”
At relatively full strength in the season-opening Two Rivers Classic – the Broncos were without star linebacker Marcos Esquivel (Sr. Kearney, Ariz.), who returned to the lineup to record a team-high 10 tackles last week – Fayetteville State nearly knocked off UNC Pembroke before falling late, 33-27.
In the three games since, the Broncos (0-4, 0-1) have played two nationally-ranked teams on the road, one of them – perennial powerhouse Carson-Newman — with a short week of preparation. They’ve also been hit by the injury bug, losing starting wideout Jamere Pugh (Jr., Henderson, N.C.), starting tight end Xavier Molina-Williams (Jr., West Covina, Calif.), starting cornerback Joshua Scales (So, Pinehurst, N.C.), Esquivel and a couple of starting offensive linemen, which equates to a total of 16 missed games by starters.
But most of the starters are back, and if you take away the poor starts to games made worse but untimely turnovers and penalties, the Broncos are not that far away from putting it all together.
“We’ve been emphasizing getting off to a better start in practice,” Phillips says. “We can’t go three downs and a punt. But that really just comes down to better execution.”
And the Broncos have had that better execution – in the second halves of their games. Down 35-7 at the half against Elizabeth City State two weeks ago, Fayetteville State scored 14 unanswered points before the start of the fourth quarter. And that included leaving points on the field after a penalty negated a made field goal.
And last week at unbeaten and No. 22 Winston-Salem State, the Broncos moved to 42-20 and had the ball again after trailing 35-6 at the break. But a fumble lead to another Rams’ score to effectively put the game out of reach.
“Offensively, I thought we moved the ball the best we moved it this season against a very good defensive football team in Winston-Salem State,” Phillips says. “If we continue to improve the way we run the football, like we did last week, we’ll have a chance to win this football game (against St. Augustine’s on Saturday).”
Freshman running back Chris Hairston (Jacksonville, N.C.) provided that spark in the ground game, running for 109 yards on 21 carries – the first time this season the Broncos have featured a 100-yard rusher. With quarterback Brandon Blumears-Cluff (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) enjoying the best game of his Fayetteville State career thus far — 14-for-19 passing for 201 yards and three touchdowns – the Broncos may be on the verge of lighting up the scoreboard again.
“Chris Hairston has definitely elevated his game and can become a premier running back in this league,” Phillips said. “He’s just a freshman and he’s got a long way to go, but he did a great job running the football against a very good team last Saturday night.”
Despite the optimism on offense, Fayetteville State must shore up its tackling on defense to be in a position to knock of the Falcons (2-2, 1-1) after the 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at Luther “Nck” Jeralds Stadium.
“We’re not making any football plays on defense,” Phillips says. “When you scheme and put guys in position to make plays, you at least want them to make those plays. You can’t let teams go 60 and 80 yards on you. You have to tackle that play at the line of scrimmage, or give them five yards here and live to play another down.”
St. Augustine’s has struggled with its running game a year after following CIAA Offensive Player of the Year Walter Sanders all the way to the Pioneer Bowl in 2010. The Falcons are averaging just 47.5 rushing yards per game, with Dennis Mathis leading the team with 174 yards on 42 carries.
But St. Augustine’s is dangerous in the air, whether it’s on pass plays or in the kicking game. Six-foot-3 wide receiver and kick returner Tyron Laughinghouse is one of the biggest threats to break a big play in all of the CIAA.
“Another big-play football team,” Phillips says of the Falcons. “We’ve got to eliminate the big football plays that Laughinghouse is capable of making. We’ve got to know where he is on the field. He’s a tall guy who can run and go up and get the football.”
No doubt, the Broncos will be trying to hem in Laughinghouse and the Falcons – from beginning to end.
[...] There is plenty for FSU to think about, and plenty to concern itself with. Things will begin to shake out after the ball is kicked into the air at 6 p.m. [...]