Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry was called away from practice sessions Monday to attend funeral services in South Carolina for his mother-in-law.
The team’s coordinators are running practice as the Falcons continue workouts in preparation for the Sept. 3 opener in Seattle against Washington. And they’re making moves.
AFA offensive coordinator Chuck Petersen announced Tuesday that sophomore Jim Ollis of Columbus, N.C., a candidate for a backup quarterback spot, has been moved to halfback and is getting a crash course on the position.
“This may not be a permanent move, but this gives him a chance to be an impact player at another position,” Petersen said. “We’re giving him a chance to learn the position. He’s a good runner, and he plays a physical game.”
The position change came as junior quarterback Luke Ewing returned to practice after being sidelined with a knee injury and Justin Handley, a projected starter at halfback, got dinged at practice. Petersen said he expects Handley to return to practice this week.
“I kind of hoped I would get a chance to play somewhere,” Ollis said. “I’m a quarterback at heart, but I’ll play anywhere for the chance to play.”
Ollis said he has enough time to be ready to contribute in the opener against the Huskies.
The chance for playing time at quarterback for Ollis was minimal with Shaun Carney entrenched as the starter and Adam Fitch the top backup.
At halfback, sophomores Chad Smith, Chad Hall and Kip McCarthy, along with Handley, make up the two-deep.
At fullback, junior Jacobe Kendrick will get most of the work, with sophomore Ryan Williams his top backup.
“We won’t rotate our fullbacks each series as we did last year,” Petersen said. “But with the nature of the fullback position in our offense, I can’t ask a player to play 70, 80 plays a game. We’ll get Ryan Williams into the games.”
Footnotes
Practices were bolstered this week with the return of nose guard Russ Mitscherling, defensive end Gilberto Perez, guard Pat Edwards, linebacker Joey Keller and wide receiver Jason Brown. All had been sidelined with minor injuries. … Cornerback Carson Bird remains sidelined, but Petersen said he could return this week.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
