With the hard-hitting on Friday and a scrimmage on Sunday, the Illinois State football team went through a light practice Saturday morning at Hancock Stadium, but in a recurring theme, head coach Denver Johnson liked what he saw from the Redbirds.
I thought we had a real fine practice yesterday and I thought we backed it up with another good one this morning, Johnson said. We have some guys running track today and we have some guys banged up, so were a little thin at receiver. But, I saw some good things..
We got a pretty good dose of (contact) yesterday and well get a pretty good dose tomorrow. Also, with us being thin at receiver, we decided to cut some that back today.
Fridays practice was dominated by the defense, but Saturday the offense, particularly the passing attack, cruised during the morning workout. Quarterbacks Kevin Zouzounis and Mike Souza peppered the secondary with passes to Jon Laurenti and Kevin Kreger, while running backs Andre Whitehead and Jimmy Overstreet busted loose for some big gains.
The defense wasnt totally shutout, especially at the linebacker position. Senior Greg Helle and redshirt freshman Chris Govan continued to shine during spring drills leaving Johnson and his staff positive for the future.
Im really encouraged, I really am, Johnson said. I might be making too much of it, but the attitude and the effort has been outstanding.
The Redbirds will participate in the first scrimmage of the spring on Sunday. The scrimmage will focus on special situations and is closed to the public.
Tomorrow we just want to come out here and get in and out of the huddles, Johnson added. It wont be an up and down the field type scrimmage, it will be a situational scrimmage. But, it will give us the opportunity to get some more live work in with some officials.
