APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – Week 1 is officially in the books as Austin Peay State University’s football team held its first preseason scrimmage, Saturday afternoon, at Fortera Stadium
Second-year head coach Will Healy was pleased with his team’s performance in its first scrimmage.
“I thought defensively we got after them, we were running around to the ball and created some turnovers,” said Healy. “Offensively we made some big plays. Our quarterbacks looked really good in space and I thought some of our backs ran the ball really well. Some really good give and take. Obviously, a ton of things we can clean up. I didn’t it was quite as physical as I wanted it to be at times.”
The Governors defense controlled the action early but quarterbacks JaVaughn Craig and Jeremiah Oatsvall slowly got their offenses moving by utilizing their feet and their running backs. Oatsvall, a freshman from Brentwood, saw more action than expected under center as Baniko Harley missed the scrimmage due to injury and got into a rhythm with the offense as the day progressed. Craig, a sophomore who nearly amassed 1,000 offensive yards in just five games to end last season, saw more limited action but impressed in his limited time during Saturday’s scrimmage.
“I thought both quarterbacks played well,” Healy said. “Obviously with [Baniko] being out for a couple of days it freed up some reps for Jeremiah. I thought he did a good job and settled in as the scrimmage went along. JaVaughn looks like a guy who started in the OVC before which is exciting to see. We’re talented at running back and you saw those guys running the ball hard.”
Oregon transfer Austin Maloata set the tone on the defensive side helping disrupt play early in the scrimmage. The defense controlled the early play by forcing turnovers and making big tackles to stop big plays. The improved defensive play was a point of pride for Healy after the scrimmage.
“Defensively, we chased the ball very well,” said Healy. “I thought we had some defensive backs that seem psychical. We look a lot better on defense and that’s exciting to see. We still have a lot of room for improvement, we can’t miss as many open field tackles as we did today.”
Austin Peay will take Sunday off before returning to their preseason schedule with an 8:30am, Monday practice.
Season tickets – the best value for Governors fans –remain available with reserved seating available for $55.00 per seat while general admission season tickets are $40.00 each. Chairback reserved seats are available at $55.00 each with a required Governors Club membership. Senior, youth, and military discounts are available as well. In addition, new full-amenity field-level end zone suites are available at Fortera Stadium.
Fans seeking more information about seating options or to purchase season tickets have several options. The can visit the APSU Athletics Ticket Office’s webpage at www.LetsGoPeay.com/Tickets, calling the office by phone at 931.221.PEAY [7328] or visiting the office, located in the Dunn Center Athletics Offices, during normal business hours.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AustinPeayFB on Twitter. General athletic news can also be found at LetsGoPeay on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
