Published: August 10, 2008 12:38 am            

Bittersweet day

SHSU loses starting tackle for season; wide receivers make big plays in situational scrimmage

Saturday morning’s situational scrimmage at Bowers Stadium had some good and bad things; unfortunately for the Bearkats, the bad outweighed the good.

Sam Houston State lost starting weakside offensive tackle John Dirk for the season with a dislocated and fractured left ankle. The injury occurred toward the end of the scrimmage when Dirk got tangled up with some defenders while trying to clear the way on the outside for a screen pass.

Dirk was taken by ambulance to Huntsville Memorial Hospital and will undergo surgery to repair the ankle this morning.

“This is the hardest thing about football and it happens,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. “We are going to have to have somebody step up. It’s just really so unfortunate because he had a great summer and worked so hard. You just have to dig deep and somebody will step up. They always do.

“But it isn’t going to be easy losing John.”

Dirk and Hunter Schmidt were the Bearkats’ only two returning starters on an offensive line that helped Sam Houston State rank fourth in the Southland Conference in total yards in 2007. The former Missouri transfer and 2008 preseason All-Southland Conference selection started all 11 games last season.

Backup tackle Aaron Saunders, who also transferred with Dirk from Missouri, will move into the starting spot.

“John was a big part of our offensive line, protecting the weak side,” Schmidt said. “We got some guys that will be able to come in and fill in for him. Aaron Saunders has been around here for a while and knows what is going on. He has the best chance of stepping in, but he has some big shoes to fill. But he is capable and we will work something out.”

Other than the loss of Dirk, Saturday’s scrimmage went well, especially the play of the wide receivers. Navarro College transfer Jason Madkins continued to impress, catching two touchdowns from quarterback Rhett Bomar on goal-line situations.

The 6-5 receiver from Mart also turned in a highlight reel grab when he caught a pass from Bomar, broke a few tackles and outraced the defense for a 55-yard touchdown.

Seniors Justin Wells and Catron Houston, junior John Dobbs and freshman Melvis Pride also caught scoring passes Saturday.

“We wanted to come back because I thought we kind of struggled yesterday in practice — mental mistakes and stuff like that,” Bomar said. “So the quarterbacks and receivers wanted to come out today and redeem ourselves today.

“I thought we made some plays. We wanted to throw in the end zone a little bit and do a little more of that than we did last year. It helps having Madkins out there, throwing to a big guy in the end zone but he made some plays after the catch, too. They all made some plays today.”

Backup quarterback Bryan Randolph also had a solid showing Saturday. He hit Dobbs and Pride for a couple of short scores around the goal line. And to cap off the scrimmage, Randolph, the Moorpark (Calif.) College transfer, connected with Houston for a 65-yard touchdown.

Starting running back TyMagic Robinson sat out most of the scrimmage as a precaution after feeling some discomfort in his leg, but junior James Aston and freshman Will Clay each had some strong runs.

“The thing I like the best is that we played pretty clean,” Whitten added. “We only had a handful of penalties, and for this time of year, that is something that I’m proud of. We made some big plays and I thought we played pretty well defensively.

“We have to take a look at the video, but all in all, I thought it was a clean scrimmage as far as assignments and mistakes. I was pleased with the focus the guys had this morning.”

        

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