Logan Wescott

DOVER — The moment came sooner than Logan Wescott was expecting.

But that sure didn’t stop him from enjoying it.

The Woodbridge High product got his first start of his collegiate football career in Delaware State’s loss to Morgan State this past Saturday. Wescott, a true freshman, lined up at safety for the Hornets.

“It was a great experience,” Wescott said. “I was a little nervous at first, but as the game kept going on, I got more comfortable playing.”

Wescott was inserted into the lineup as first-year coach Kenny Carter tries to tinker with things to help jumpstart DelState’s season. The Hornets are 0-4 overall headed into Saturday’s contest at Hampton.

Carter is giving younger players who have performed well in practice the opportunity to get more time in games. Wescott is leading that list of players.

“We felt like we were not getting the productivity at the position that we needed to get, so we made the change,” Carter said. “If you looked at who was on the field, we’re going young. Most of the teams in our conference have more experience, but this is something we need to do to get better.”

Wescott found out during the bye week that he would be starting. Prior to Saturday he had only featured on special teams, with three tackles in the team’s first three games.

Wescott ended up with four tackles, three of which were solo efforts, in his debut.

“He’s a good tackler and obviously he’ll have his growing pains being a freshman,” Carter said. “But the more he plays, the better he’s going to get.”

“It’s a lot faster and a lot more to learn,” Wescott said of adjusting to the college game. “Getting used to that speed is the biggest adjustment.”

Still battling

Despite the slow start to the season, Carter has liked the effort his team has given him.

“It is frustrating but we knew it would be a work in progress,” Carter said of being winless. “We expected to have victories by now, but the reality of it is we’re trying to change the culture and we’re going to focus on getting better every week.”

Carter said the team is buying into the long-term plan. He thinks the wins will come if the Hornets stay on their current path.

“The guys are drinking the Kool-aid,” he said. “We’ve got to finish, though, and feel like we can win. I told them after the game that if you feel like you can win and be a champion then you will play that way.”

All eyes on Watford

With the trip to Hampton this week, a lot of the focus from the DelState defense is on Pirate quarterback David Watford.

The senior is the leading passer in the MidEastern Athletic Conference, with an average of 257 yards per game. He has thrown for 13 touchdowns, which is far and away tops in the conference. The next highest is seven from Bethune-Cookman’s Quentin Williams.

Williams’ ability to scramble makes him a difficult matchup.

“He’s very athletic with good feet,” said Hornet linebacker Malik Harris. “We need to execute our gameplan, so that isn’t a problem for us.”

Hampton has already played three MEAC games to the Hornets’ one. The Pirates (1-2 MEAC, 2-3 overall) are coming off losses to Norfolk State and North Carolina A&T after starting the conference season with a win against Howard..