Air Force Academy – Nick Charles got the surprise of his young collegiate life Saturday when he started at left guard on Air Force’s offensive line.
It was surprising because Charles is a freshman and the Falcons were facing arch-rival Navy. But as it turned out, he almost was the last AFA player standing at his position. He got the call when it became obvious seniors Tyler Dohallow and Ted Crump and junior Caleb Morris weren’t going to play.
Air Force’s policy on not commenting on football injuries only added to the surprise.
“The opportunity came not the way I wanted, but it came,” said Charles, a 6-foot-4, 280- pounder from San Antonio who attended Air Force’s prep school last year. “If I had come right out of high school, I wouldn’t have been ready to play. The extra year helped a lot.”
Charles could be considered a big part of the future of Air Force’s football program. But with injuries to three other guards, his future is now.
“I’m not sure of everyone else’s health,” Charles said. “Right now, it looks as if I’ll be starting again this week against Colorado State.”
Coach Fisher DeBerry confirmed Charles will start Thursday night and added: “He played well. But realistically he’s not a freshman. Every player in the freshman class I call rookie. But he played against some good junior college competition last year at the prep school.”
Charles said playing against Navy was everything he expected.
“Coming out of my high school, there were four academy signees, myself here and three to the Naval Academy,” Charles said. “Those three were my best friends. For me to go out and play against their team, that was like a chance to play against them. I liked the atmosphere of the military game. It was for bragging rights and unfortunately they went their way.”
Injury report
While the status of three guards remains unknown, the Falcons got senior safety Brad Meissen back from a knee injury. In his first action of the season, Meissen started as an extra linebacker in a 3-3-5 defensive alignment that Navy pummeled for 317 yards and 22 first downs rushing, conversions on 11-of-17 third downs and a critical fourth down, and a healthy 9:48 advantage in possession time.
DeBerry believes he could get some other players back Thursday. Defensive ends Gilberto Perez and Noah Garguile are expected to practice this week and possibly play as the Falcons hope to improve to 3-0 in the Mountain West Conference.
MWC salutes linebacker
Drew Fowler, who made 18 tackles against Navy, was named MWC defensive player of the week. Fowler, a junior linebacker, leads the Falcons in tackles with 46 in four games.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
