Savannah, Ga. -- Savannah State's football team wrapped up preseason camp today and will shift to regular practices beginning tomorrow.
 
SSU opened camp Aug. 1 in preparation for its second season in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Tigers' season opener is Sept. 1 against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.
 
SSU conducted a two-hour practice this morning inside newly reconstructed T.A. Wright Stadium. A team walk-through was scheduled for tonight. The Tigers will begin its regular practices tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. and will practice at the same time when classes begin Monday.
 
The team will scrimmage at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The event is free to the public.
 
“The kids have to register for classes (Friday) so it's a long day for them,” SSU second-year head coach Steve Davenport said. “And then we've got a scrimmage to make sure our legs are ready. It's been a grueling 10 days but the kids have played hard and shown their enthusiasm for the game that we demand out of them.”
 
A second scrimmage, SSU Blue and Orange Game/Fan Day, is scheduled for Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. and it will be free to the public.
 
A third and final scrimmage will be conducted Aug. 23, a Thursday night, and it will be closed to the public, Davenport said.
 
Large offensive line
SSU's offensive line is the largest in recent memory and perhaps the biggest in the school's history.
 
Davenport said the starters at this time are right guard Epafara Moananu (6-foot-3, 285-pound freshman);  right tackle Ioane Ioane (6-foot-5, 320-pound freshman); center Devin Stainrod (6-foot, 265-pound freshman); left guard Cedric “Chico” Brown (6-foot-2, 280-pound junior) or Caleb Freeman (6-foot-3, 300-pound junior); and left tackle Jonathan Clowers (6-foot-6, 290-pound junior).
 
“One of our goals this recruiting season was to get a little bit bigger,” Davenport said. “We felt like, coming out of the gate last year, we were always the smallest crew on both sides of the ball. They're young guys, so they've got some growing to do, but you can't really coach size. And we purposely went out and recruited some bigger kids.”
 
Moananu and Ioane are from American Samoa.
 
“Ioane Ioane,” Davenport said, smiling. “We call him John John. I asked his high school coach why John John decided on Savannah State, because he had some other Division I offers. His coach said he looked on the map and saw that we were near water, and he liked that.”
 
Freeman transferred from Georgia Military College, where he was a two-year starter.
 
Hardison throws 4 TDs
Sophomore Victorian Hardison, who is competing with freshman Leon Prunty and junior Jake Durham to be the No. 2 quarterback behind Antonio Bostick, threw four touchdown passes during this morning's practice.
 
Hardison connected with tight end Kris Drummond and wide receiver Edward Lackey Jr. for a pair of 40-yard touchdowns. Hardison later found wide receiver Simon Heyward for a 55-yard touchdown.
 
Hardison's performance prompted Bostick to shout, “Hey, Vic, great job! Way to set your feet, Vic!” Bostick then walked out to greet Hardison and slapped hands with him. Earlier, Bostick connected with wide receiver Merlon Jones, for a 40-yard touchdown.
 
Hardison threw his fourth touchdown pass, a 50-yard strike, to Heyward.
 
“We signed Vic last year and he's a tremendous kid, a great student on and off the field,” Davenport said. “Whatever it takes to build the competition. We want to compete. Bostick's the starting quarterback right now but that doesn't mean he's the starting quarterback when we go to Oklahoma State. Somebody's just got to beat him out.
 
“We want all of the guys at every position to compete. And this is a time of competition. We'll turn it around and show the depth chart after the second scrimmage.”
 
Davenport earlier this week said the No. 2 quarterback will get some playing time in SSU's first two games at Oklahoma State (Sept. 1) and at Florida State (Sept. 8).
 
“It's a good motivator,” Hardison said. “It pushes you to come out here and compete every day. Even when I'm not in, we have three other quarterbacks and I just try to get those mental reps when I'm not in so when I do get in, you know, it seems like I already ran that play before.
 
“I'm really looking forward to Sept. 1, but we have to take it one day at a time.”
 
Hardison said his approach this season is more focused than it was last season.
 
“I've been getting my shoulder iced every day so I can come out here with a brand new arm,” Hardison said. “And getting in the film room. Last year, I should have been in the film room a lot but, coming in as the No. 3 or No. 4 guy, I wasn't in the film room as much. I've been in the film room a lot this season. A lot.”
 
Heyward difficult to cover
Hardison's favorite target was Heyward, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound junior and a graduate of Savannah's Beach High School.
 
“Throwing to Simon Heyward, he's a bad matchup anywhere in the country,” SSU defensive coordinator Saeed Khalif said. “We would have a double-team package in for Simon Heyward. Right now, we were trying to play man-up so our defense could learn how to play against his speed.”
 
Last season, Heyward made 16 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown. As a freshman, he led the Tigers in receptions (56) and yards (423) to go with a touchdown.
 
Defense improving
Khalif said the defensive line's ability to bat down several passes throughout preseason camp is cause for excitement.
 
“I think we're doing well. We're flying around,” Khalif said. “We've got some new additions that make us faster. We're bigger in a lot of places. We've got a lot of range on the end with our defensive ends, so when we don't get to (the quarterback) in pass pressure, we'll have hands up and batting balls down. We batted a lot of balls this camp. And we've had a lot of (QB) pressures this camp.
 
“I like the way our defense flies around. We're still missing some secondary people so we can get a better rotation against spread (formation) teams but, overall, I like where we are. We're 6-5 and 6-6 on the ends now so we actually have guys who get their hands up, and they're athletic enough where they actually have hand-ball coordination.”
 
Khalif said junior defensive back Somali Smith, who transferred from Iowa Central Community College, is “a welcomed addition” along with 6-foot-4, 260-pound lineman Charles Green, who transferred from Colorado State.
 
“And Micah Blount,” Khalif said. “Micah Blount has really had a great camp for us. He's a surprise. I don't know where he came from but he showed up. He's got true ball skills, so he's really going to help us out.”
 
Senior Terrance Williams, a graduate of Savannah's Windsor Forest High School, moved to nose guard and has been impressive.
 
“That really helped us get more speed and flexibility up front, making more plays,” Khalif said. “I think up front we're going to be pretty decent.”
 
Junior defensive back John Wilson intercepted a pass by Durham on Thursday.
 
“John Wilson has had a great camp,” Khalif said. “He's probably, if I had to vote on a team captain, for me right now it would be John Wilson. He put the work in over the summer. He's had a really good camp.”