With a morning session on the Hancock Stadium turf and an afternoon practice on the grass practice field, the Illinois State football team completed its last true two-a-day practice on Wednesday.
The Birds will take the field twice on Friday, but most of the newcomers will miss a session to attend the Universitys Passages program for freshman orientation. During both practices on Wednesday the Redbirds were outfitted in shoulder pads and shorts and focused on eliminating mistakes.
This was a lower-intensity practice, head coach Denver Johnson said. We have a lot of things on film and we were just trying to iron out some of those wrinkles. We went twice today in shorts and shoulder pads and didnt go full pads at all. By design, we wanted today to be a little less physical and a little lower in intensity.
Although that was the intention by the coaches, the Redbird receivers didnt get the message as Mike Souza connected with Avery Massengale on a deep route along the right sideline for a touchdown. Souza continued the hot hand in the afternoon by hitting Ramon Barber on a cross pattern for a 60-yard score.
Also in the afternoon, Souza found Mike Larson up the middle for 25-yards, Laurnt Robinson on a 30-yard route and Jonathan Deloach for a 40-yard gain. Deloach, who recently moved to wide receiver from defensive back, has already caught Johnsons eye.
Its going lovely, Johnson said with a smile about Deloachs change in position. I think hes going to do well. He looks the part. He is a sleek looking kid that runs effortlessly. He has got some great hands and I just think that is going to be a fantastic move for him and a fantastic move for us.
Sophomore wideout Ramon Barber knows what its like to impress the head coach in his first fall camp and the West Palm Beach, Fla., native is pleased to be a part of the deep Redbird receiving corps.
Were just having fun out there and I cant wait until everyone can see us play, Barber said. (Mike Souza and I) talk to each other, he knows where Im going to be on the field and I know where hes looking. He looks for me to make big plays and looks for me to step up and Ive been trying to do that and come through for him.
The defense also showed promising signs during the day as Chris Govan intercepted a Robbie Wages pass in the morning practice and both Anthony Kirkland and Mike Blough recorded defensive sacks in the afternoon.
We are still looking at a possible new wrinkle or two defensively and I think we accomplished what we set out to accomplish today, Johnson added. Hopefully we made some progress on correcting some of our mistakes and well expect to see some improvements in the next few days.
The Redbirds return to the field on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. in full pads, before hosting the Bloomington-Normal community for Meet the Birds at Hancock Stadium at 5:30 p.m.
