Will Healy pleased with quarterback play after Charlotte 49ers’ first preseason scrimmage
Observations from the Charlotte 49ers’ first intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at Richardson Stadium:
▪ Quarterback Chris Reynolds looked sharp, hitting receiver (and housemate) Cam Dollar on a 60-yard touchdown pass on the third play of the scrimmage. Backup Dom Shoffner did, too. Shoffner, a junior college transfer who started his career at N.C. Central, is bigger (6-feet-0, 209 pounds) than Reynolds (5-11, 192) and moves around in the pocket well, a prerequisite of coordinator Mark Carney’s offense.
“Dom’s done some really good things; he’s been a huge addition for us to feel really good about what’s behind Chris,” coach Will Healy said after the scrimmage. “I will use him to take some carries off Chris this year. I think we’ll use them both at the same time.”
▪ The offense seemed to be further ahead than the defense, which Healy said should be expected after only seven days of camp. After Reynolds’ TD toss to Dollar, the second team offense scored on a 62-yard run by junior Calvin Camp and the third team got an 80-yard scoring run by true freshman Chavon McEachern.
“I thought our offense made some big plays; it was fun to see those young backs,” Healy said. “Defensively, what we’ve got to do is work on tackling, and yeah, that’s supposed to happen in the first scrimmage and the first time you go live. So it’s not concerning. What needs to happen is we’ve got to be able to translate what we’re doing in practice, working on angles and working on tackling to what happens in the scrimmage. We can’t lose sight of our fundamentals.”
▪ Charlotte’s offensive line loses three starters from last season’s team that went 7-6 and played in the Bahamas Bowl. Healy has been pleased with the two returners — center Jaelin Fisher and tackle D’Mitri Emmanuel, saying they’re playing at a “ridiculously high level.”
The first-team offensive line Saturday: LT Emmanuel, LG Jonathan Timmons, C Fisher, RG Ashton Gist, RT Ty’Kiest Crawford. Gist, a transfer from Northwest Mississippi Community College, left the scrimmage with a leg injury but Healy said it wasn’t serious. Two others — Hunter Kelly and Gage Welborn — also got in with the first teamers at different spots on the line.
▪ Siah Sa’o (a transfer from Vanderbilt) and Bryan Wallace started at the defensive tackle spots, flanked by Tyriq Harris and Markees Watts at the ends. Tyler Murray, a transfer from Troy who was a third-team all-Sun Belt selection in 2018, started at one of the linebacker spots with Luke Martin and Brelin Faison-Walden. Lance McMillan and Nafees Lyon (corners), Ben DeLuca and Ja’Cione Fugate (safeties) started in the backfield.
▪ Linebacker Prince Bemah, who had knee surgery last week and is expected to miss several weeks, watched much of the scrimmage from the stands. He got plenty of support from his teammates: “We miss you, Prince!” shouted defensive tackle Demond Stewart.
▪ Healy told the team before the scrimmage to play as if it were a game — but not to hit the quarterback or get into fights. That largely happened, although there was a small skirmish, nothing serious, after the offense scored a touchdown early on.
▪ Healy said there is nothing to announce yet on the 49ers’ search for a 12th game (Charlotte added Appalachian State and North Carolina last week after Tennessee and Norfolk State canceled games due to the coronavirus). He said Conference USA is considering scheduling an extra conference game for teams after Old Dominion announced last week it was canceling fall sports. The 49ers and Monarchs were scheduled to play Nov. 14 in Charlotte.
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This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 2:25 PM.