WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Jack Fleck was prepared to continue his punting career as a Division I walk-on — maybe close to home at Indiana or Ball State — when Howard University entered the picture late with a partial scholarship offer, part of Coach Gary Harrell’s offseason push to shore up his special teams.Fleck, a freshman from Indianapolis, had already punted five times in Saturday’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game against Morgan State when he received orders for a trick play that the team works on in practice almost every day. Instead of a kick, Fleck floated a 16-yard pass to reserve defensive back Jordan Monette to continue a drive that eventually ended in a third-quarter touchdown.
With its offense struggling throughout, Howard relied on a spark from its special teams to secure a 21-20 win on homecoming day in front of 10,305 fans. The Bison also blocked two kicks and clinched their first victory over Morgan State since 2004 after the Bears squandered the game-tying extra point attempt after a bad snap with 2 minutes 29 seconds left.
“When you’re young and kind of inexperienced [on] offense [and] defense, special teams has gotta be the phase that takes over that slack,” said Harrell, who was a special teams whiz during his playing career with the Bison in the early 1990s.
READ MORE
No comments:
Post a Comment