Dear Citadel Football Association:
First and foremost, I would like to thank the fans that made the trip to Mercer this weekend, it was a great atmosphere. Mercer had a sold-out game for parents’ weekend with 12 thousand fans in attendance. I would also like to thank Col. Deedrick Reese for doing our pregame coin toss. Col. Reese is the commander of the Warner Robins Air Force base and is one of my good friends and former teammates here at The Citadel. Our thoughts and prayers are with Khalil Moody who collapsed on the field during the game, we wish him a speedy recovery.
It was a hard-fought game on Saturday, but we cannot give a complete team like Mercer opportunities. We needed to capitalize on our explosive plays and score to keep their defense from being able to line down again. They are a good team led by a stout defense, and we want to model our team to be like them in that way. I was excited about our passing attack but wish we had been able to finish that 99-yard drive and score to change the momentum of the game.
Despite the loss, the future is very bright for this football team. This week against ETSU will be ring weekend, and we have 12 athletes who will be receiving their ring. Only having 12 seniors shows just how young this team is and how bright the future is for us. We have a big task against ETSU, a team that I believe should be ranked. They are coached by Tre Lamb who did a great job at Gardner-Webb where he won back-to-back Big South Conference titles and made the playoffs in back-to-back years. He brought a majority of his staff with him as well as 25 players from Gardner Webb. Offensively they will present a challenge for us, having had 305 yards, 614 yards, 383 yards, and 489 yards in their first four games. They have a good QB who we will have to work to contain, this young man is dual threat and is shifty as well as having the ability to make the long and short throws. Defensively they are very talented as well with a couple All-Americans among a group of solid football players. This week we will have to look for things on film that give us a high chance of success and execute those plays, and like I tell the players, we will empty the clip.
Go Dogs!
Sincerely,
Maurice T. Drayton
Head Coach