BEAUMONT, Texas – Winning doesn't begin with the opening kickoff on gameday, but behind closed doors in the weight room and out in the hot Southeast Texas summer sun during individual workouts. Victories begin when hard work is taking place and no one is watching, while others are relaxing. The Cardinals decided to allow the fans a glimpse of some of that hard work Tuesday evening with the second annual Night of Champions at Provost Umphrey Stadium.
An event started by LU head coach
Mike Schultz following the 2017 spring camp, the Night of Champions saw even more impressive results during the second go around. In addition to the numerous personal records that fell during the week leading up to the event, the Cardinals set 10 school records this past week with five of those coming on the field Tuesday night.
"Our guys have absolutely worked their tails off this year," said LU strength and conditioning coordinator Dan Darcy who is closing out his second season with the program. "They earned the right to be out here tonight. Ten school records don't fall by accident and we're very pleased with the numbers that we saw here."
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Adam Morse returned to break his record in the squat, which he originally set last season. Morse finished the night with a mark of 480 pounds. In addition to Morse, sophomore kicker Elvin Martinez set a record in squat with 500 pounds, while
Derrion Randle set the running back records for the squat (515) and clean (340). Earlier this week, transfer defensive linemen Darien Wilson squatted 600 pounds in the weight room, and benched 470 on the field. Sophomore David Crosley etched his name down on in three areas recording records in the clean (367), squat (525) and three-lift total (1,262) for linebackers. Other records that fell Tuesday were
Zae Giles in the bench press for receivers (305), Dawud Shorts in the squat (525 – tight end) and Garrett Bowery with a three-lift total for offensive linemen (1,313).
There were three teams competing in the 2018 event – Bigs, Stand Up and Skill. The Bigs were represented by
Dedrick Garner, Garrett Bowery, Darien Wilson, Stephon Cooper and Reggie Boseman. The Stand Up squad was
Derrion Randle, Case Robinson, Dawud Shorts, Elvin Martinez, Adam Morse and Isaiah Spencer. The Skill team consisted of
Davon Jernigan,
Zae Giles, Isaiah Howard and D.J. Thompson.
The Cardinals set up a bell near the competition, and every time a personal record fell the bell was rung. Following the Night of Champions, Big Red will be looking to invest in a new bell.
"Over the course of the past week, I've had a constant ringing in my ears but that is a good thing," said Darcy. "We've had guys this week break a record and then go back and break it again. Some may think it's an annoying sound but it's music to my ears."
Despite the number of personal best that fell Tuesday evening and in the days leading up to the Night of Champions, Darcy is more concerned about the overall team improvement, and he likes where things are headed.
"I know folks want to know which records have fallen, and who did what, but I'm more concerned about the averages," said Darcy. "Records are nice, but as coaches the averages are what matter the most. In the clean we're plus-20 compared to last year, plus-25 bench press and plus-30 in the squat. Those numbers are just in the spring, we still have summer workouts ahead of us. We knew we had to get stronger this year and that has been, and will remain, the emphasis."
As the 2017-18 academic year winds to a close, more focus will be placed on the start of a new season. That new seasons gets started Saturday, Sept. 1, when the Cardinals open at home against Kentucky Christian.
-LU CARDINALS-
