FOOTBALL TAB -- Princeton: Gaster adjusting to players

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on August 20, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PRINCETON -- Travis Gaster takes over a program headed in the right direction after logging a program-best 12 wins and posting a total of five playoff victories over the past three years.

But two questions linger.

How do you replace the school's all-time leading rusher, Johnny Frasier, who is now a freshman at N.C. State. And who earns the quarterback job after two-year starter Michael Wooten, who threw for 3,000-plus yards in his career, also graduated?

Out of the 12 returning lettermen, just five started in 2014.

The Bulldogs, said Gaster, have shown potential.

"If they will practice with more effort on a single-rep basis, they have the potential to be a special team, they really do," he said. "Experience is limited, but that's going to come. By the time we're playing conference (in late September), experience doesn't matter. They've been playing long enough in my mind."

Junior Lashane White is the lone returner on offense.

The 5-foot-8, 260-pounder will be joined by three players who've had minimal snaps as a lineman - Kiadae Richardson, Luke Braswell and Austin Hillis. Richardson served as a backup running back on offense last season. Braswell played on the JV team.

Hillis also had a backup role.

The other tackle spot in Gaster's five-man alignment remains undecided.

"We've still got time to put somebody in there and polish them up," Gaster said. "It's going to be a good group, we can tell that. They are strong. They do move well. As long as they give us effort, the rest of it is on me.

"They have enough tools for us to be successful."

Running the pro/gun scheme is Adam Crocker. The 5-9, 165-pound sophomore hasn't taken a snap in a live varsity game, and peppers Gaster with questions on a daily basis.

The only drawback is Crocker doesn't have film to study since Gaster's offensive package is different that the spread set Princeton ran the last three years under previous head coach Derrick Minor. Crocker can't observe defensive shifts and make the necessary reads to either run or pass the ball.

Crocker, instead, has been Gaster's pupil.

"He studies more with me," smiled Gaster. "The good thing is with our best people on defense, he gets to look at a pretty good defense every day, trying to read coverage and recognize the alignments. He's getting better and I'm sure his eyes will be pretty wide (open) on that first (game) night.

"He's changing a little bit right now. He was pretty timid at the start. I think he understands that I trust him and that he can do what I'm going to ask him to do. Hopefully, he'll keep growing."

Princeton ranked the league's offensive leaders in several team and individual categories last season. With Richardson moved to the line, Whack and Matt Stallworth -- along with Earl Gibson -- will comprise the backfield. Whack and Stallworth combined for 550 yards and 10 touchdowns a year ago.

Stallworth and Gibson, a pair of short-distance track standouts, will shoulder most of the burden. Whack will have limited touches since the 6-1, 265-pound senior is expected to spend a majority of each Friday night on defense.

Whack collected 85 tackles, had 14 stops behind the line of scrimmage and recorded three quarterback sacks a year ago. He's popped up on recruiters' radars and is generating considerable interest from Winston-Salem State.

"I don't want Adrian playing a lot of defense," Gaster said. "I want him to be able to expend a lot of energy and aggression and athleticism to dominate on defense. If he can do that, I think we're coming out in the good.

"He's too special to take off the field on defense."

Back on defense are three seniors - lineman Chris Sauls, linebacker Codi Bryant and linebacker Malcolm Best. Sauls registered 26 tackles, with two tackles for loss. Best had 38 tackles, four sacks and recovered three fumbles. He's recovering from a knee injury sustained against eventual 1-AA state champion Wallace-Rose Hill.

Bryant logged 92 tackles, including five for loss.

Seniors Jarrett Pearce and Cameron Cook will patrol the secondary.

"Jarrett is the only guy in the secondary that has played varsity football with significant reps," Gaster said. "Every one of these young men are coachable kids and that's what's encouraging to me. Not all of them have experience, but we'll put our best people on defense."

Gaster doesn't favor high-scoring games.

More of a defensive-minded coach, he's putting pressure on his four down linemen to control the line of scrimmage. The Bulldogs had the Carolina Conference's second-best scoring defense and allowed 19.8 points per game overall last season.

Should Princeton keep its opponent contained on a consistent basis and control the tempo on offense, he likes his team's chances each time they step between the white lines.

The ultimate keys are discipline and an aggressive mentality.

"I want them to be more physical than they are right now. Practice with more effort," said Gaster, who played at the Air Force Academy.

"Get after each other and understand when the whistle blows, it's over. Get after each other and understand that I'm not going to hurt you if I hit you as hard as I can. To me, that's the way the game is supposed to be played.

"That's the way I want to coach it."