Contributed
(August 31, 2010)

Faulkner sophomore Zach Tribble has emerged as the current leader in the three-way battle for the starting quarterback position, as the Eagles continue to work toward their season opener in less than two weeks.

Head coach Gregg Baker got a close look at his team, which opens Sept. 11 at Cramton Bowl against Birmingham Southern, in a 100-play scrimmage Saturday at LaGrange. For the most part, he liked what he saw.

"I told our team that I thought we did some really good things," Baker said. "It wasn’t perfect, but the mistakes we made are certainly correctable. We did blow a couple of assignments, but nothing was glaring. We learned a lot about our guys on both sides of the ball. On defense, we didn’t give up one big play, and that was our problem area last season."

Tribble has been in a battle with fellow sophomore Trey Martin and freshman Seth Baker for the starting job. Tribble has been at Harding the past two seasons, where he was behind an NCAA Div. II All-American on the depth chart. Baker says the more the rust comes off, the better the transfer will be.

"He really understands the offense, but so do our other two quarterbacks," he said. "We have the best depth we’ve ever had at the position."

Martin was a part-time starter for Faulkner last season, while Baker ran the exact same offense a year ago at Springville High School.

Baker also praised the play Saturday of a pair of wide receivers - Courtney Pete and A. J. Yelder, both of whom caught big passes in traffic for the Eagles.

"I’m especially pleased with A. J.," Baker said. "He’s grown up a lot from last season. He’s gotten tougher and in the scrimmage he was looking to be physical. And I like that."

The offensive line also graded out well in the scrimmage, according to Baker. He singled out the play of center Mitchell Thornton, tackles David Clemons and J.J. Duarte, and guard Robert Johnson, who didn’t allow a sack or commit a single procedure penalty.

The Eagles will continue full-contact practices through the rest of the week before taking the weekend off. On Monday, Faulkner begins game-week preparation for the NCAA Div. III Panthers.