Are you going to be the hammer or are you going to be the nail? That's the question a Savannah State University football assistant coach shouted Monday morning, setting the tone for the Tigers' first practice in full pads.
 
It was hammer time inside newly reconstructed T.A. Wright Stadium, as players finally were allowed to hit at full speed. The energy was so high during the two-hour practice that a handful of players had to be reminded by coaches that the quarterbacks wear orange jerseys during practices because they are off limits to tackling.
 
SSU second-year head coach Steve Davenport paid particular attention to Leon Prunty, Victorian Hardison and Jake Durham. They are competing to be the backup to Antonio Bostick, whom Davenport said is the Tigers' starting quarterback.
 
Prunty, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound freshman from Stockbridge, appears to have the edge on Hardison, a 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore from Lovejoy. Durham, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound junior from Long County High School in Ludowici, remains in the hunt.
 
“We feel really good about Leon,” Davenport said. “The original plan was to see who would be battling for third (string) but Hunter (Vaughn, a freshman last season) decided to transfer. So that kind of threw a monkey wrench in our plans.
 
“Obviously, we feel real good about Leon. He's got some athletic ability. Big kid.
 
“And Vic's a smart football player. Right now, I think Jake is kind of backing up the rear but he's still fighting.”
 
Davenport said the No. 2 quarterback will play in SSU's first two games at Oklahoma State (Sept. 1) and at Florida State (Sept. 8).
 
“No. 2 is going to play against Oklahoma State and Florida State, so we've got to make sure that he's prepared to go out and play the game,” Davenport said.
 
Bostick gains confidence
Bostick, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound redshirt junior from Greensboro, Fla., threw for 755 yards and three touchdowns last season. He ran for 93 yards and three touchdowns. Bostick split time last season with former Benedictine star A.J. DeFilippis, who graduated from SSU.
 
“That's never the situation you want at that position,” Davenport said. “You want a guy to feel like, 'Hey, I can make a mistake and it doesn't cost me (playing time).' We feel like, in retrospect, last year with the guys going back and forth that they might have played a little hesitantly, especially Antonio, with the quicker hook on Antonio, because A.J. won the position in camp and then he got hurt against Appalachian State and had to sit for a week.
 
“And Antonio came in and had a good game for us against North Carolina Central, and I think from that perspective he started playing, when he got an opportunity, not to lose the job. And we want to get him out of that. Obviously, he feels a lot more confident in terms of his leadership. He is the guy.”
 
Drummond's 2 TD catches
Kris Drummond, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound sophomore from Washington, D.C., produced perhaps the biggest highlights of Monday's practice when he scored touchdowns on consecutive plays.
 
Drummond, who has been moved from wide receiver to tight end, caught a pair of 45-yard touchdown strikes from Bostick. On the first touchdown, Drummond out-jumped a defender in the end zone. On the second touchdown, Drummond was wide open across the middle.
 
“It was different routes but the same concept,” said Drummond, who was selected to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's Preseason All-Conference Second Team. “We're out here getting better. If we keep doing this every day, we're going to be one of the best teams in the MEAC. We're getting a good connection. During the season, I hope that we keep making that connection and keep making big plays.”
 
Davenport said he expects big performances from Drummond, who made 13 catches for 151 yards last season.
 
“Kris was our only all-conference preseason selection,” Davenport said. “Came in and had a heck of a year last year. Came in as a wide receiver, but in our offense we like that tight end position to be a more athletic guy who can take advantage of matchups, whether that's against safeties or linebackers, and that's what happened to him on that route down the middle. He beat the linebacker and the safety jumped on the corner route.
 
“His athleticism, obviously, gives us an advantage. And he's a competitive kid. He can get too fiery at times but you just want to harness that and make sure he understands that you want to play hard but play smart. He's going to be a tremendous football player.”
 
Drummond said he was among 41 players who remained on campus throughout the summer to participate in daily voluntary workouts.
 
“Every chance we could,” Drummond said. “Sometimes it would rain but when weather permitted, we did. Seven-on-sevens, one-on-ones, however many people were out here.”
 
Life at preseason camp
Davenport said SSU will have logged 10 days of preseason camp by the time classes begin Monday. The Tigers will conduct their first scrimmage at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Last Wednesday, SSU opened camp in preparation for its second season in the MEAC.
 
A typical day at preseason camp begins with the team breakfast. After that it's a seemingly never-ending series of practices and meetings until curfew.
 
“We start with offensive and defensive position meetings for an hour (at 8 a.m.) and then we start specialists (kickers, punters, kick returners) at 9 a.m. on the field,” Davenport said. “Practice starts at 9:15 and we usually go until about 11, 11:15.”
 
After the morning practice, the team takes a 2 ½-hour break.
 
“We call it a siesta,” Davenport said, laughing. “And we encourage them to go get in the bed, get some rest, get lunch in them. We start the special teams meeting at 2:30, position meetings again at 3, watching the morning's practice or going over whatever (plays) we may be installing for tomorrow's practice. Dinner at 6 p.m. and we're back on the field for walk-through at 7:15 p.m. We start with defensive walk-through and the offense lifts weights. That's 40 minutes. Then we have a special teams walk-through to go over what we went through in the meeting. And then the offense comes and walks through and the defense lifts weights until about 9:15 p.m., and we've got a 10 p.m. curfew.”