By David Hughes
TERRE HAUTE — Prenny Stokes is willing to do whatever it takes to help Indiana State football become a winner again.
Start on the defensive line? He did that as a freshman, sophomore and junior.
Fill in at quarterback? When he was younger and leaner, he played that position at McCutcheon High School.
Wash the team’s stinky, dirty jerseys after a road trip? If somebody weren’t already assigned that duty, he’d probably raise his hand to volunteer.
So when coaches approached Stokes during preseason training camp about playing center, he immediately started practicing his snaps with quarterback Reilly Murphy.
“I’d never played there in my life,” the 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior said with a chuckle this week. “I went from quarterback to outside linebacker to defensive end to defensive tackle to center.
“We were just short on numbers on the O-line. I just decided to be a team player and help out the team the best way I could.”
ISU coach Lou West said a large number of preseason injuries to offensive linemen, including a sprained knee and ankle to starting center Jack Byrne, forced the switch.
“At one time [in the preseason], we had only three or four offensive linemen [healthy],” the third-year head coach explained. “Prenny’s been in the fire before and we could afford to move him over there at that time. So we did it and he caught on pretty quick. We kind of like him over there now.”
West, Stokes and Murphy agree the transition has gone smoothly.
“I think it’s gone pretty well,” West said. “He’s adjusted well. I think he’s blended in with the rest of the offensive line. He’s accepted it and doing well. I think it was a pretty good move for us right now.”
“It’s kinda easy for a defensive man because you know what the guy across from you is going to do, his tendencies, what he’s trying to set you up to do,” Stokes noted.
“Prenny’s out here [at Memorial Stadium] working on his snaps every day before and after practice,” Murphy mentioned “He’s doing a good job so far. We’ve still got some work to do. He did a very good job last Saturday [in a 55-7 setback at Indiana University], especially for his first game at center. But there’s still some things me and him need to work on together. As soon as we can not think about the snap, that’s when we’ll be perfect. We’re almost there.”
Stokes said he and Murphy spent a lot of time in the preseason working on snaps, not just at Memorial Stadium but in the backyard at Murphy’s house in Terre Haute.
“I actually woke him up out of bed and got some snaps with him,” Stokes recalled. “Snaps, snaps, snaps . . . so it becomes part of your subconscious. Then you can just worry about your steps and your drive blocks and your pass sets and your pass pro[tection].”
West confirmed that Stokes’ snaps were not a significant factor in the loss to IU.
“Maybe a little cadence work,” West said. “We jumped offsides a couple times when he was supposed to snap the ball. Other than that, it wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t too bad for a first outing.”
“We had one low snap [when Murphy was in shotgun formation],” Stokes admitted. “If I put it in percentages, we would have had it at 98-percent [success] on snaps. I think I did an all-right job.”
The recovering Byrne will miss the home opener against Austin Peay this Saturday — 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium — so Stokes will be hiking the ball again and he’s looking forward to it.
When Byrne and others do return, nobody seems sure what will happen. West had said before the season that Stokes might play other positions on the offensive line.
“They’re going to have to earn their positions back because Prenny, I think, is digging in there,” West said. “He’s not home free, by any means. But he’s digging in there very well. It’s going to be hard to root him up out of there. When they come back, we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it.”
The Sycamores’ coach also said “a slim chance” exists that Stokes could be moved back to the defensive line before the season ends.
“He’s doing so well [on the offensive line] that unless we absolutely need him [on the defensive line], he’ll probably stay over there,” West added.
And what is Stokes’ position preference for when Byrne returns?
“I prefer to help out the team,” Stokes replied. “Where ever I’m needed, I’ll be there. That’s part of being a senior leader — just do what they ask you to do. No questions asked.”
