Emphasis put on running game in day four of training camp

Published on January 10, 2006 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Columbus Destroyers News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Destroyers spent the majority of Tuesday's second session of Training Camp emphasizing the running game and short passing routes as Day 4 continued at the Columbus FieldHouse.

After another solid two sessions of practices, the players were set to finish the day off with conditioning. Normally after a pair of two hour practices, the last thing that players want to do is run, but Tuesday was a little different.

To add a little competitive spirit to the day, head coach Doug Kay split the team into four groups for relay races. The teams, named the Lions, Cheetahs, Tigers and Panthers, were to run to the opposite end of the field and back with a Nerf football. Players then had to hand the ball off to the next player in line.

"It was good to do this because we have really been practicing hard and conditioning is always good," wide receiver/defensive back B.J. Barre said. "It's always good to implement fun and conditioning, and I really think that helped build team chemistry."

And the friendly competition always helps, too.

"That was a little fun, competitiveness between the team," Barre said.

The winning team, the Cheetahs, consisted of offensive/defensive linemen Ken Kocher, Ken Jones and Dan Rumishek as well as quarterback John Kaleo, wide receiver/linebacker Mike Nizzi, offensive specialist Carlos Johnson, defensive specialist Jerald Brown and Barre.

"We knew we were going to win," Barre said. "We had a lot of fast guys, and our big guys got off to a fast start. If it wasn't for those big guys, we wouldn't have had a chance."

PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS

In the morning session, the defensive secondary was buzzing around the football with several pass breakups and interceptions The offensive linemen had a good day of work, not allowing but a couple of sacks and giving the quarterbacks plenty of time to throw Fullback/linebacker Leroy Thompson was a force during the afternoon session, pounding his way through the defensive line during team rushing drills

Defensive Assistant Ian Cooper's comments on the day...

On how the players getting a grasp on everything...

"I think the guys are starting to get a better understanding of what we are looking for, both offensively and defensively. They are starting to jell and each day we are starting to see improvement as far as what we are looking for as coaches and what we want as a team."

On how the players are understanding the defensive signals...

"It's important that the guys are getting the signals that I am sending in, that way all eight guys are on one page. You don't want guys on two or three pages out there; we want them all on one. That way, everything comes together as one unit."

Wide Receiver/Defensive Back Jeremy Unertl's comments on the day...

His thoughts on how camp is going...

"Everyone's tired. Everyone's sore, but it's an effective camp, and we just have to keep pushing on and get better mentally."

On how he is adapting to the defensive scheme...

"The defense is more sophisticated than I think that some of these guys are used to. We are just trying to work on the little things and perfect our techniques and try not to make any mistakes to run the defense effectively."

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from January 10, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central