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Wednesday, 04 February 2009 |
Signing Day keeps attention on football
With the closure of the Super Bowl last Sunday, many regard football season as a thing of the past and are looking forward to the next sporting season.
For Appalachian State University head coach Jerry Moore football is never a far thought away, however, especially since Wednesday marked the beginning of next fall.
National Signing Day.
With four of the 14 selections quarterbacks and an additional four as linebackers, it is apparent Moore is insuring his roster.
By signing four quarterbacks Moore will have a selection of backups to
DeAndre Presley, who is currently the second-man following Armanti
Edwards, who enters his senior season this fall.
Andrew Peacock is one of the four. Peacock totaled just shy of 3,000
yards of total offense, 2,200 passing and 700 on the ground, his senior
season.
Others, Jamal Jackson and Demetrius McCray hail from Georgia. McCray
takes the ball on both sides, as he played both quarterback and
defensive back. He was credited with seven interceptions, 40 tackles
and 1,600 yards of total offense because of his versatility.
The four linebackers signed will have the opportunity to step up into a
position formerly held by all-American Pierre Banks, who excelled
defensively for five years at Appalachian.
Brandon Grier, one of the linebackers, totaled 156 tackles his senior
season to push his total over 300 for his last two seasons. Hailing
from West Charlotte High School, Grier was part of a team that won
back-to-back undefeated conference championships and had four playoff
victories.
One of the names buried at the bottom of the list of 14 signees shouldn’t be ignored.
A defensive back, Justin Wray initially committed to the University of
Alabama-Birmingham, before overriding his decision with a letter of
intent to Appalachian Wednesday.
Recruited by some colleges as an “athlete” Appalachian took Wray as a
defensive back, however, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
Wray could play a variety of positions including quarterback, safety,
receiver or even linebacker.
In three years, Wray passed for 3,991 yards and rushed for 1,680.
Some people readily accepted the end of the NFL season as the end of
football for a while. Others, however, will be excited like myself at
the prospects of Signing Day.
Signing Day preempts spring practices and that means all discussion of the 2009 season is now fair.
While Appalachian’s national championship reign was forced to a close
this past season, coach Moore said with a smile that - after all, there
is always next season.
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