Spring Break
In search of a scholarship
Russell Blair
Issue date: 4/20/09 Section: Sports
Senior walk-on Marcus Easley, a Stratford native, walked off the field Saturday with 10 catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns, both career highs.
He caught balls that were underthrown and balls that were overthrown. Anything sent in the direction of Easley, whether it was from Zach Frazer, Cody Endres, or Johnny McEntee was guaranteed for a catch.
Had Saturday's Blue-White game been a regular season contest last year, Easley would have walked away from the game with the fourth-most receiving yards on the team and the most touchdowns.
Coach Randy Edsall, who has been reluctant to praise players all spring, had no problems remarking on Easley's fantastic performance.
"Marcus has gotten progressively better this spring," Edsall said. "He's improved, he's made himself better. The thing that I told Marcus … Marcus has good speed, but we need to get Marcus to play at the speed that he runs with. If he does that he can be a big factor to what we get done offensively."
Edsall compared the idea of 40-speed - how quickly a player can run in a straight line - to playing speed - the ability for a receiver to make cuts, run routes and get themselves open for passes.
Frazier and Easley connected for the first touchdown of the game at 6:25 to go in the second quarter. Easley broke away from his defender and caught a crisp fade route into the left corner of the end zone for 34 yards and a score. Two plays earlier the duo connected for 29 yards on a slant across the middle.
In the modified scoring system pitting the offense against the defense, Easley had a hand in 10 of the Blue team's 23 second-quarter points, sending them into halftime with a one-point edge over the White team.
While Easley didn't start in Saturday's spring game, he got a chance at extended playing time after Brad Kanuch broke his collarbone in last Tuesday's practice after being shoved in the back by redshirt freshman cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson. Easley proved his worth in Saturday's scrimmage.
He caught balls that were underthrown and balls that were overthrown. Anything sent in the direction of Easley, whether it was from Zach Frazer, Cody Endres, or Johnny McEntee was guaranteed for a catch.
Had Saturday's Blue-White game been a regular season contest last year, Easley would have walked away from the game with the fourth-most receiving yards on the team and the most touchdowns.
Coach Randy Edsall, who has been reluctant to praise players all spring, had no problems remarking on Easley's fantastic performance.
"Marcus has gotten progressively better this spring," Edsall said. "He's improved, he's made himself better. The thing that I told Marcus … Marcus has good speed, but we need to get Marcus to play at the speed that he runs with. If he does that he can be a big factor to what we get done offensively."
Edsall compared the idea of 40-speed - how quickly a player can run in a straight line - to playing speed - the ability for a receiver to make cuts, run routes and get themselves open for passes.
Frazier and Easley connected for the first touchdown of the game at 6:25 to go in the second quarter. Easley broke away from his defender and caught a crisp fade route into the left corner of the end zone for 34 yards and a score. Two plays earlier the duo connected for 29 yards on a slant across the middle.
In the modified scoring system pitting the offense against the defense, Easley had a hand in 10 of the Blue team's 23 second-quarter points, sending them into halftime with a one-point edge over the White team.
While Easley didn't start in Saturday's spring game, he got a chance at extended playing time after Brad Kanuch broke his collarbone in last Tuesday's practice after being shoved in the back by redshirt freshman cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson. Easley proved his worth in Saturday's scrimmage.
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