Bucs show improvement in final preseason scrimmage

RB Kenny Harper led Bucs in rushing

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern's Buccaneers conducted their final scrimmage of the 2005 preseason on Saturday morning, leaving head coach Jay Mills with a comfortable feeling.

"I thought we had a much better day than we had last Saturday, in all phases of the game," said Mills, following his team's three-hour workout. "I feel like we had a much better tempo on both sides of the ball. We had fewer penalties and mental mistakes and we took care of the football. We still have a long ways to go as a football team but we showed some positive strides today."

Junior quarterback Collin Drafts started slowly on Saturday but finished strong. Drafts completed 17-of-26 passes for 156 yards, tossing an 18-yard scoring pass to Maurice Price.

Redshirt freshman Sidney Bryant secured his spot as the number two signal caller, completing 10-of-17 passes for 95 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown pass to Edsel Logan.

Drew Rucks led the receiving corps with five catches for 42 yards, while Logan and Terrence Scurry had four receptions each for 51 yards. Nine different receivers caught passes during the scrimmage.

Starting running back Kenny Harper had a strong day as well, finishing with 67 yards on 15 carries and scoring three touchdowns. It was the most productive scrimmage of the preseason for Harper, who is coming back from a broken leg suffered in the fourth game of last season.

"He gets more confident with every practice and he looked pretty good out there today," said Mills. "Kenny is developing into a very solid team leader for us."

Defensively, the Buccaneers returned an interception for one score, their third return for a touchdown in the last two scrimmages. Sophomore safety C.J. Hirschman returned his interception 55 yards for a score early in the scrimmage. Safety Dennis Delemar had an interception at the goal line and returned his 43 yards.

"Our defense continues to be our most improved area," said Mills. "We've developed some great competition and depth in some key areas defensively, especially along the defensive line."

Starting placekicker Nick Ellis ended the scrimmage with a pressure 40-yard field goal while redshirt freshman Hart Pearson was solid on kickoffs and punts.

"I thought we looked pretty consistent in the kicking game as far as kickoffs, punts, the return game and the placekicking," said Mills.

Charleston Southern opens the 2005 season at The Citadel on next Saturday night at 7 p.m. The game is being televised statewide through the South Carolina ETV network.