San Marcos — Wide receiver Alex Darley was dismissed from the Texas State program this week for a violation of team rules.

Darley, a 6-foot-3 sophomore out of Corpus Christi-Flour Bluff, was supposed to figure heavily into the rotation at wideout this season.

According to police records from Aug. 20, Alex Lorenzo Darley, 19, was arrested at 641 E. Hopkins Street for shoplifting $473.80 worth of merchandise after trying to exit the entrance to the store with a full cart. That is the address for the H-E-B No. 1 grocery store in San Marcos.

Darley’s departure leaves a hole in the wide receiving corps that the Bobcats will fill with Corey Scott, a former receiver at Cuero High and a true freshman, according to head coach Brad Wright. Scott has been practicing at defensive back during fall camp.

“Anytime you lose someone, somebody is always going to step up,” Wright said.

Wright instituted a no-tolerance policy when it comes to discipline since taking over the program last spring, so the fact that Darley was dismissed quickly after the offense comes as little surprise. Darley was also not listed on the current two-deep depth chart released by Texas State’s sports information department earlier this week.



Simulated game goes as planned

Saturday morning Texas State ran a simulated game at Bobcat Stadium in order to prepare the personnel groupings for the season opener against Cal-Poly.

The practice game went well and allowed each special teams unit to practice formations and when to come out in a game-like setting.

Nick Clark put together a fantastic performance in the fake, quarter speed game. Clark, a senior defensive end, scooped up a fumble and took it the length of the field, stopping occasionally and looking back at equipment manager Josh Thompson, who was placing the ball between plays during the simulated game according to the script created before practice.

“I was waiting on the whistle so I didn’t have to run all the way to the endzone, but it never came,” Clark said while laughing.

Donovan King, another star defensive end for the Bobcats, congratulated Clark on the fake touchdown with some over-the-top celebration.

This week though, Clark, King and the rest of the defensive line will get down to the serious business of halting Cal-Poly’s offense, which includes two-time 1,000-yard rusher James Noble, this Saturday in the season opener.

“Monday we’ll start focusing on Cal-Poly full force,” Clark said.



The other Clark

Another member of the Clark family will also have a big role in stopping that Cal-Poly offense.

Nick’s younger brother, Marcus Clark, is currently slated to start at the Will linebacker spot, a rapid rise for a true freshman who was playing defensive end in high school.

Clark is a 5-foot-10 199 pound linebacker who was also recruited by Northwestern State, but didn’t want to line up against his brother.

“I wasn’t going to do that,” Clark said while smiling and shaking his head.

Clark worked out at Texas State in the summer with his brother as many freshman who live locally do, and the weightlifting gave him a leg up in fall camp.

“I think I’ve come along pretty quickly, a lot quicker than people expected I think,” Clark said.

He was in a 4-3 system at Everman High, so that gave him some basis for understanding the Bobcats’ new 4-3 flex.



Nealy Returns

Barrick Nealy, the former Texas State quarterback great who led the Bobcats during the 2005 playoff run, was in attendance at today’s events.

Nealy is a member of the Calgary Stampeders’ Canadian Football League squad. The franchise has a long break between games on Aug. 17 and Sept. 3 currently.



Daily Record News Editor Anita Miller contributed information to this report.