Turk pleased with developing depth at quarterback

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon College football team's fourth day of preseason practice had a slightly different schedule.

The Hawks began their fourth day of preseason camp with service at First United Methodist Church on Sunday morning. Following church, the team took the field for its first afternoon practice.

Judging by their first exposure to afternoon heat, head coach Mike Turk said his team still has some work to do on its conditioning and toughness.

"The morning weather has been relatively nice the first three practices. This afternoon was tough on them," Turk said. "We hung in there for part of practice, but we gave out near the end and it got pretty sloppy. We had way too many guys that gave into the heat at the end of practice. We've got a ways to go in that regard."

Huntingdon will be in full gear for the first time on Monday. Practice is set for 9 a.m. and is open to the public.

As the Hawks gear up for the final week of practice before school starts on Aug. 20, Turk said he likes what he is seeing at the quarterback position. Senior Neal Posey leads the group, but Turk said junior Ryne Taylor, sophomore Taylor Hughes and freshmen Andrew Rhodes and Gunnar Peters are all doing good things.

"Neal knows our offense as well as anybody. He started three games as a sophomore and all 10 games last season and he has the best grasp of what we're doing," Turk said. "Ryne and Taylor are both doing some good things for us. Neither one of them is as consistent as I want them to be yet, but both of them are capable players. And Rhodes and Peters have both picked up on what we're doing pretty quickly.

"All of them still have things to work on and areas they need to improve in, but it's exciting to have that kind of depth at quarterback."

Posey is 10-3 as Huntingdon's starter the past two seasons. He completed a school-record 225 passes last season for 2,794 yards and 21 touchdowns. His passing yards and touchdowns were the second most in school history. Entering his senior season, Posey ranks third in school history in pass attempts (411), completions (266), passing yards (3,489) and passing touchdowns (32).

"Neal is sneaky good," Turk said. "He just does his job and isn't real flashy. Sometimes, players like that are perceived as players that don't make a lot of plays, guys that do just enough not to lose games. That's not the case with Neal. He's a player and he makes plays happen.

"In our offense, the quarterback has to be a guy that makes good decisions before the snap and after the snap and Neal does that. Having the experience he has and being back for his senior year, it's certainly a tremendous advantage for us."