MEADVILLE &8212; Coming off a somewhat disappointing 6-4 campaign in his first year as head coach, Grady McCluskey has stepped things up a notch in fall practice this season.

&8220;We&8217;ve had to work a lot on offense,&8221; he said. &8220;We&8217;ve really been working with our quarterbacks on throwing the ball. We struggled some last year and now we&8217;ve got two kids battling for the position.&8221;

Sophomore Jamie Collins and junior Lee Turner are currently neck-and-neck in a quarterback battle that may not be solved until after the first game of the season.

Despite the lack of a clear favorite at quarterback, McCluskey feels his offense has come along quite nicely.

&8220;We&8217;re a little behind, and not exactly where I&8217;d like us to be on offense,&8221; he said. &8220;But I&8217;ve been really impressed with how the quarterbacks have done. Nothing&8217;s really disappointed me at this point, and the quarterbacks have been a big surprise.&8221;

McCluskey did say, however, that his defense and special teams would need more time devoted to them in the coming weeks.

&8220;Our defense is a little bit behind right now,&8221; he said. &8220;Our special teams are a little behind, too, but that&8217;s partly from working so much on offense. The next two weeks we&8217;re going to work a lot on our defense, because I think it can be the strength of our team.&8221;

With a home jamboree against Amite County and North Pike coming up in less than a week, there&8217;s plenty of work ahead.

&8220;I think we&8217;ve got to get way better,&8221; he said. &8220;Our special teams needs work, our offensive line needs to gel and our defense needs more reps. We&8217;ll be working hard.&8221;