Wildcats camp begins
March 24, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
South Georgia Wildcats News Release
A rash of injuries made roster cuts much easier on Cape Fear Wildcats coach Chris Siegfried last spring.
Siegfried put 30 candidates through a three-hour workout at the Crown Arena, including 11 members of last year's Atlantic Division championship team. With the first round of cuts scheduled for Friday, Siegfried and his coaching staff will be forced to make some tough and hasty decisions. The season opener is set for April 5.
"We had a lot of injuries in camp last year, so I didn't have to make a whole bunch of cuts,'' Siegfried said. "This year I think the guys are a little bit more prepared. They realize that we had a great season last year, but I hope they also realize just because certain guys were on the team doesn't mean they're definitely on the team this year.
"We are going to look for those guys who were on the team last year, initially, to be the veteran leaders. But we've got a lot of good new guys on the team who are going to make camp interesting for some of the veterans.''
Two veterans who made a good first impression on Siegfried were wide receiver/linebacker Mitchell Galloway and lineman Jon Hall. Both reported to camp in better shape than they did last year.
"Mitch Galloway looks great,'' Siegfried said. "He weighed in about 15 pounds lighter than what he was last year. Jon Hall is about 35 pounds lighter than he was last year. Obviously, I know those guys took the off-season seriously.''
Galloway, a former East Carolina receiver, missed much of the Wildcats' preseason practice and the first four games a year ago due to a groin strain. He came back to make 23 catches for 224 yards and three touchdowns in eight games.
But Galloway said before Wednesday's workout that he never really was in top form.
"I came in 20 pounds overweight last year,'' Galloway said. "I really never got a chance to get down to my playing weight.
"This year I wanted to give football at least one more shot at my playing weight and see where that takes me.''
Galloway is one of two receivers in camp who played for Cape Fear last year along with Matt Burstein. Burstein was the team's fourth-leading receiver with 33 catches for 421 yards and eight touchdowns.
A notable addition to the players contending for spots in the Wildcats' receiver corps is Scotland High graduate and ex-Wake Forest star Jammie Deese. Deese was a late cut by the NFL's Washington Redskins in 2000 and had a tryout with Cape Fear last June but didn't sign a contract.
"I'm excited about having Jammie Deese in here,'' Siegfried said. "Last year he was busy doing some things off the field, but this year he called me early in the off-season and said he had gotten into a position at work so he could give it a try. But he looks great.''
More players expected
Siegfried is expecting to add several other players in the next few days. Among those could be two who played for the Wildcats last season, lineman Sefa Pua'Auli and kicker Gary Kral.
Kral led Cape Fear in scoring last season with 104 points, while Pua'Auli was a mainstay on the offensive line. Pua'Auli was waived from the practice squad last week of the Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers.
"We have a good feeling - it's not definite - but we have a very good feeling that Sefa Pua'Auli will be back next week,'' Siegfried said. "That will just make our team that much better.''
One returning player, lineman Chris Smith, sat out Wednesday's practice. Smith is still recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.
Siegfried will have to trim his roster to 30 by Friday.
"It's going to be an interesting week-and-a-half,'' Siegfried said. "We're going to have to make a lot of tough decisions.''
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