Fourteen practices into his first season as Kansas Wesleyan's football coach Matt Middleton is pleased. Not satisfied by any means but happy with the initial steps in the lengthy building process of his program.
Middleton, his staff and a sizable crowd got a glimpse of what the Coyotes have accomplished the past month during an approximately 80-play intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at JRI Hospitality Stadium and the Graves Family Sports Complex. It was the final practice of the spring session for the 82-man squad.
"The biggest thing for us was to see what we had," said Middleton who came to KWU in December after two seasons as an assistant at Division II powerhouse Harding. "We don't know the personnel because we haven't been here, we need see who we have, what they're capable of, what they can do with holes we need to fill."
Middleton, who coached quarterbacks and fullbacks at Harding, unveiled a balanced and fast-paced attack. Transfer quarterbacks Henry Austad and Caden Middleton, the coach's son, alternated the early series and were impressive.
Running backs Luke Armstrong, a returning NAIA First-Team All-American, and veteran D'Heaven Domena excelled as did freshman wide receivers Will Wilcox, veteran Rhadarious Lomax-Spivey who sat out last season and sophomore Dejaylon Beal. Beal caught touchdown passes of 65 and 55 yards from quarterback Kai Wilkinson late in the scrimmage.
"When you watch film, it's never as bad as you think it is or never as good as you think it is - somewhere in the middle," coach Middleton said. "We've got some playmakers, and I know we busted (big plays) all over the place today but what I was proud of was when we didn't bust plays, we still made plays and extended plays and that was the biggest thing.
"The two touchdowns at the end were extended plays so I think we're learning to play through the whistle and if things don't go our way, finding a way to make something happen. It's a new system; it took a few practices, I think probably seven is when it started to click a little bit. Today you were seeing us in it."
Injuries played a big role much of the spring; the defense impacted most.
"The first group we've got some talent, but I'll be honest we've been beat up defensive line-wise and you can see that today," Middleton said. "We just don't have our guys right now and have had to play some guys on limited reps. We'll get those things fixed and get some depth in here and get some stuff corrected. But they gave great effort and they're getting after it."
Linebacker Freronnta Allen had the defensive play of the day intercepting a Wilkinson pass and returning it for a touchdown.
Shoring up depth on both sides of the ball will be the primary focus until fall camp begins August 8.
"We've got to go get some immediate help, we've got to go get some people to come in and be in the two-deep right now and help us," Middleton said. "Anytime you have a team that loses 33 seniors and a lot of others you're in a situation where you're replacing a whole lot of production. We've got a lot of spots that we can fill in."