EAST STROUDSBURG — East Stroudsburg University football coach Denny Douds did not want to tip his hand to how good his staff recruited at running back in recent years.
Freshman tailback Kendrick Williams was the star of the future as the Warriors planned to redshirt the back. And fellow freshman Eric Deery was the back who was going to hone his skills in spots, following the leadership of junior Zach Krise.
That plan was scrapped at West Chester on Oct. 3. Krise went down with a season-ending injury and the youngsters have stepped in to fill the void in the backfield.
Williams and Deery will each play prominent roles today when ESU hosts Edinboro in a 12:10 p.m. kickoff in the opening round of the NCAA Division II playoffs at Eiler-Martin Stadium. Williams has averaged 111 all-purpose yards over the last five games, while Deery has two 100-yard rushing games (Cheyney and Millersville).
"We think we have a crew of backs right now that might be as good a crew total that we've had in a long time," Douds said. "They're all young, we'll get some experience with them, but it's going to be fun to watch these kids.
"I'm not sure we're going to be road-grade U or anything like that, but, hey, when called upon these guys will do what's asked of them. They can run and they can all catch, too."
Williams is averaging 4.5 yards per carry (88 carries, 399 yards), while Deery is averaging 5.5 yards (46-252).
ESU likes to use Williams out of the backfield, too. He's caught 11 passes for 217 yards for a team-best 19.7 yards per catch.
"That creates some mis-matches," Douds said of the use of backs out of the backfield. "If you've seen the game last weekend, we got Williams on a mis-match and it wasn't even close once we got him the ball in the open."
Young team grew up quick
ESU had two difficulties to overcome early in the season — inexperience and a road-heavy early-season schedule. In the first seven weeks of the season, the Warriors went on the road five times.
The bus ticket included destinations to Virginia Union (about eight hours by bus), Gannon (near Erie, about six hours), Shippensburg (2 hours, 45 minutes), Cheyney, West Chester and Kutztown. ESU won five of those six road games.
"To see kids come in and not know one another, travel 44 hours on bus trips and see them get to know one another," Douds said. "Last Thursday we had the last supper. Guys had stories and skits and were kind of bustin' one another and laughing ... this is the fun of coaching and seeing a team come together and become a team."
It may be Douds' youngest team ever. And to reach the NCAA playoffs for just the fourth time in school history is a huge accomplishment for the veteran coach.
"If you start the season and somebody says, 'Half your group or 43 out of 80 are going to be redshirt freshmen and freshmen,' do you really think you're going to the playoffs?" Douds said. "But sometimes when that occurs, they don't know how good they are, and sometimes don't know how bad they are. Sometimes that's OK, too. All they have to do is go out and play.
