Senior Vic Jerald (left) was the Hawks' third leading rusher last season with 560 yards and six touchdowns on 91 carries.
Senior Vic Jerald (left) was the Hawks' third leading rusher last season with 560 yards and six touchdowns on 91 carries.

Huntingdon running backs a mixture of experience and youth

Head Coach Mike Turk on Day 3 of preseason camp: "It's obvious right now that we have a lot of guys who have not played. We're throwing a lot at them right now on both sides of the ball and a lot of guys are struggling with that because it's new to them. That's just the nature of this time of year.

"You can tell the positions where we're experienced because those guys are moving around and playing fast. At the same time, you can tell where we're inexperienced because those guys are making a lot of mistakes that inexperienced guys make. We have a lot of work to do to become the kind of team we want to be."

Position Spotlight – Running Backs

Projected Starter: Vic Jerald (Sr.)

A Closer Look: The Huntingdon backfield graduated three of the top five career rushers in program history in John Iwaniec, Jay Ware and quarterback Luke Bailey. The trio combined to rush for 2,035 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2016.

But the Hawks return an experienced back in senior Vic Jerald. Jerald enters this season with 1,266 career rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. He was the Hawks' third leading rusher last season with 560 yards and six touchdowns on 91 carries.

Jerald's best statistical performance came in a 42-14 win over Averett as he rushed for 188 yards on 13 carries. The 188-yard performance was the third best single-game rushing effort by a Hawk and his 14.5 yards per carry in the game set a new Huntingdon record.

Turk on Jerald: "Vic is the most experienced guy we have. He has played in some big games and is certainly one of those we're counting on offensively to do his share and be a leader. He is a proven guy and he is the only experienced guy we have in the group. He is going to have to shoulder a lot of the load, especially early in the season."

Others to Watch: Dontavion Cunningham (So.), Jonathan Robinson (Jr.), Kobe Smith (So.), Eric Thomas (Fr.)

Turk on the running back position: "We have a couple of guys behind Vic, who have played some. Dontavion Cunningham and Jonathan Robinson have not played a ton, but both of them have been in games for us and have shown us good things.

"Kobe Smith and Eric Thomas are two guys who were here but did not play varsity last season. Kobe played in all of the JV games and did some good things. Eric was injured early in the year and missed the whole season but came back in time to get some work in the spring. We're anxious to see what we're going to get out of those guys."

Next Practice: The Hawks return to the field at 9 a.m. on Saturday in shoulder pads and helmets. Practices are open to the public.