Huntingdon developing depth on defensive line

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A day after the Huntingdon football team struggled through a sluggish practice, head coach Mike Turk was more pleased with Thursday's effort.

"We had a much better energy level today and the guys seemed to respond to the challenge we issued yesterday," Turk said. "There was a lot more intensity, energy and effort today. It made practice more fun. We still made some mistakes, but the energy level was dramatically different and we practiced like a college football team today."

With five practices behind the Hawks, Turk pointed to the defensive line as a unit that has been consistently strong in the preseason.

"We have a lot of experience back in that group and I expect them to perform at a higher level this time of year than some of the groups that don't have as much experience," Turk said. "These guys are performing. They're playing hard, giving us a hard time and being disruptive with their pass rush, which is what you want."

The Hawks return five defensive linemen (seniors Phillip Bagley and Heath McCray, juniors Octavis Harris and Drew Wheeler and sophomore Parker Allen) who earned starts last season and two others (juniors Jalen McDonald and Kris Cannon) who were a key part of the rotation.

"That's a good group of guys, but it's not enough. We're searching for some more guys," Turk said. "In a perfect world, we would have three groups and we need to have at least a minimum of two groups.

"So, there is a lot of competition for starting jobs and playing time. The intensity level has been really high and it's been a fun competition to watch so far."

Turk said sophomore Jarren Jones and junior Hunter Booth are also performing well in the preseason as is freshman Bennett Brantley.

Huntingdon will hold its first two-a-day session of the preseason on Friday. The Hawks will practice in the morning at 9 and will return to the field in the afternoon at 4.