Eagles feeling bite of injury bug early
Eastern Washington football coach Paul Wulff doesn’t have to worry about the bull’s-eye preseason recognition is putting on the Eagle uniforms.
Instead of wondering if his team will live up to the expectations that come with Sports Illustrated tabbing the Eags No. 2 among I-AA teams in its latest issue or the No. 4 ranking from The Sports Network poll released last week, Wulff has more pressing concerns.
From the time practice commenced late last week to Monday’s first day in full pads, the training room started filling up and defensive line depth took a hit – two unrelated issues.
Because Wulff deals with the here and now, the injuries concern him the most. At least a half-dozen Eagles are sidelined with hamstring troubles of varying degrees, and he doesn’t know why.
“We’re trying to figure that one out,” he said. “The kids are in good shape, I don’t know if it is fatigue. Three of them are lingering from the summer.”
The most prominent players to be sidelined are wide receivers Eric Kimble and Raul Vijil and running back Desmon Cole. Kimble was hurt during summer workouts.
The defensive line depth was depleted when a pair of backups, tackle Larry Raynes, who started 10 games at end last season, and end Taylor Summers, decided they didn’t want to play anymore. Summers, a redshirt freshman out of Skyline High in Sammamish, made his intentions known before practice, but Raynes, a redshirt sophomore from Elma, just didn’t show up the first day.
“We talked,” Wulff said Monday after practice. “He’s done. … With Larry being done in combination of the graduation of Brandon Myers and Tom Finnerty, that’s three starting defensive lineman out of the four we don’t have.”
Tackles Garrett Quinn, the returning starter, and Harrison Nikolao have experience, as does end Johnny Hanson. Redshirt freshman Jason Belford is expected to start opposite Hanson. Mike Wolfe is back after missing last season with a knee injury.
“We have to find at least two more D-linemen,” Wulff said. “The kids there have talent, but they’re young. We need two to step up.”
True freshmen could contribute, Wulff said, and not only on the defensive line. So far, across the board, the freshman class has impressed the coaching staff.
“It’s still early to tell which ones, but I can envision anywhere from two to four first-year players playing,” Wulff said. “We’re very, very, very pleased. There is a tremendous amount of talent there.”
Charles Searcy, a defensive back from Santa Monica JC, hasn’t been able to practice because of transcripts problems. He’s expected to contribute.
Belford leads the list of redshirt freshmen or players who missed last season as Prop 48 academic non-qualifiers who have caught the attention of the coaches in the first week.
Running back Reggie Ford, tight end Shawn Powell and linebackers Marcus Walker and Shae Emry are the others Wulff mentioned.