ST. GEORGE — After a full off-season and summer spent working out and talking about playing football, the Trailblazers were eager to get back on the gridiron Wednesday morning.

Even if it was just for practice.

“I think they came out and they did a good job,” head coach Paul Peterson told St. George News at the end of the team’s first workout at fall camp.

“I’m excited for them,” added Peterson, who is entering his fourth campaign on the sideline and is 11-16 as coach of the Trailblazers. “You can feel that first day energy.”

The pandemic tossed the program’s routine into the wind and the Blazers were excited to put in a full offseason of workouts.

“COVID kind of took that rhythm and now we’re back on schedule,” Peterson said. “The guys are having a really good springtime and summertime. We had maybe over 90 percent of our team here working out and doing those meetings.

“So we feel like we’re a little bit ahead, which is awesome. We’re where we want to be.”

Coaches and players worked on the first install of new schemes and systems during practice. Peterson said they focused on the fundamentals. 

During camp most fans and coaches eyes’ will be on the quarterback position. With six quality QBs listed on the UT roster, the coaching staff will have a tough time picking the Blazers’ starter.

“You watch a lot of film, you’ve got to do a lot of assessing during practice, you got to see who can make the throws and get us in the endzone,” Peterson said.

Kobe Tracy started under center in the last five games for Utah Tech last season and took tremendous strides as a quarterback and leader during that time.

Looking to win the starting job are five other signal callers who will get reps during Fall camp.

Boone Abbott played at American Fork High School before going to the University of Hawaii and then transferring to Utah Tech.

Victor Gabalis transferred from Washington State to play in St. George.

Former Dixie High School standout Reggie Graff returned from his two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will also be in the quarterbacks room for Utah Tech. 

The other two quarterbacks competing to start for the Blazers are AJ Perez and UNLV transfer Kenyon Oblad, who was the all-time leading passer in Nevada prep history with 11,828 yards and 116 touchdowns.

“I think we’ve got some talented guys, it’s up for grabs for sure,” Peterson said. “We’re going to get a lot of reps for them so by the end of camp we should have a starter for sure.

“Or you know, we’ve done the two QB system in the past. But whoever’s going to help us win the football game is going to play.”

The Trailblazers will take practice to the next level Friday when they hold their first workout in helmets and pads.

Utah Tech’s first game is on the road at Sacramento State Sept. 3. They open the home slate against Chadron State at Greater Zion Stadium Sept. 10.

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