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The Livingstone notebook ...
D’Andre Hopper has regained his starting position for the Blue Bears after backing up Antonio Kirkpatrick in last Saturday’s season opener.
“Hopper did have a better game. Going into the second game, he will be the starter,” said head coach Greg Richardson, whose Bears fell 49-0 at Catawba on Saturday afternoon.
“He (Hopper) is a good player and very tough.He understands the (option) offense very well and the checks we have to make. He’ll make some things happen.”
Neither quarterback had big numbers against the tough Catawba defense. Hopper passed for 59 yards, but lost 13 yards rushing for a net 46. Kirkpatrick threw for 38 yards and lost 16 running for a net 22.
Offensively,Livingstone managed only 129 total yards, 97 through the air.
Hopper, the all-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association quarterback and an academic All-American as a junior, will be trying to put some spark back into the offense when the young Bears host Tusculum at 7 p.m. Saturday at Alumni Field.
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YOUTHFUL OPPONENT: “They’re a young team also,” said Richardson of Tusculum, which comes in with a 1-1 record. The Pioneers edged West Virginia Tech 19-17, then fell to Arkansas-Monticello 23-17.
“He (coach Frankie DeBusk) is playing a lot of freshman players. They are lining up and throwing the ball a good bit, which is our worst enemy, considering what happened against Catawba,” said Richardson.
Catawba completed 11 of 19 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns against the Bears. Livingstone had no interceptions.
Tusculum, with quarterback Caleb Slover doing the throwing, has averaged 184 yards passing in its first two games. Slover is 42-for-75 for 368 yards.
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NARROW LOSS: Livingstone fell 11-9 to Tusculum in the season opener for both teams in Greeneville, Tenn., last season.It was a game Richardson and his staff thought the Bears should have won.
“We should have beaten them last year. We had more yardage (317 to 179) and kept the ball longer,” said the Livingstone coach. “We made some key errors that allowed them to win the football game.
“We think we have a good opportunity to win this week. It’s going to be who executes the best this weekend that’s going to be the winner.”
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SECONDARY CORRECTIONS: “We should be better in the secondary than we were in that first game,” said Richardson, who has three returning starters — Devie King, Donatric Nash and Mike Posey — in the defensive backfield.
“We are busy now trying to make corrections in our secondary coverage so these things won’t happen again. We did have a freshman (Marcus Richardson) starting. He got some hard lessons on the job training. He’s going to be a great player,” said the Livingstone coach.
King is playing free safety for the first time, making the switch from cornerback. Nash started the Catawba game at strong safety, but took Richardson’s corner spot during the game. Posey is a cornerback.
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YOUNG UP FRONT: Livingstone has an extremely young offensive line, but Richardson was surprised and pleased with the way his young players performed up front.
“Our young freshmen: They held their own. We weren’t out-physicalled. They weren’t knocked off the line. We were surprised to see that that kind of thing didn’t happen to us. We were concerned that they (Catawba) would be more physical than we were, but that really wasn’t the case. Most of it was technique,” said the coach.
Livingstone’s big-name freshman recruit was 300-pound left guard Brian Dalton of Greensboro. Richardson points out that Dalton is well known in the Piedmont after playing in the East-West All-Star Game, but that his recruits from South Carolina are quite talented.
The South Carolina freshmen in that offensive line are right guard Chonce Dunham (250) of Edgemore, left tackle Barion Jones (275) of Rock Hill and right tackle JeremyJones (290) of Lugoff. Sophomore Derrek Reynolds (300) of Winston-Salem is the center. He was a defensive player last year.
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INJURIES: Junior tailback Carl Jones, the CIAA rushing leader as a freshman in 1998, didn’t play against Catawba because of an ankle injury. Wide receiver-kick returner Shannon Gainey, also a junior, re-injured a sore hamstring muscle and didn’t play in the second half.
“It’s a day-to-day situation with Carl Jones. We are trying to nurse it and nurture it. I hope by the end of the week, he will at least be able to do something on it,” said Richardson.
“Shannon Gainey aggravated the hamstring again. We are going to take it easy with him. He will be doubtful for this game.”
Gainey has been one of the most dangerous return men in the CIAA the past two years.
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Ed Dupree covers Livingstone for the Post.
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