FALL CAMP REPORT 7: Action Heating Up

NORMAL, Ill. – Another hot, sunny day at Hancock Stadium in full pads made for a tough practice Thursday morning, as the Redbirds work towards their second scrimmage of 2021 fall camp.

Practice Highlights:
•    Illinois State's new University President Dr. Terri Goss Kinzy introduced herself to the team prior to practice and gave them her support for the upcoming season.
•    The Redbirds mixed it up in their 7-on-7 sessions … instead of the typical two-sided session, one side with first and second team and the other with third and fourth team, the team focused on one side, rotating three quarterbacks through each session.
•    In the first session, Bryce Jefferson, Jackson Waring and Timothy Dorsey took the snaps … Jefferson was on point today going 5-for-6 connecting with Tanner Taula, Bryson Deming, Kacper Rutkiewicz, and Tristan Bailey twice … Waring was 4-for-6, getting the ball to Wenkers Wright, TreShawn Watson, and Micah Jones twice … Dorsey took four snaps and had four completions, connecting with Scotty Presson Jr., Pha'leak Brown, Jarrett Strate-Lutzow and Wright.
•    On the defensive side of the ball, Jude Okolo and Darius Walker each picked up a sack in the first 7-on-7 session.
•    The blitz drill brought more offensive power … Jefferson found Jabari Khepera and Rutkiewicz during the series while also handing the ball off to Nigel White and Wright for carries … The next series, Britton Morris connected with Watson twice, once across the middle and again near the right sideline to gain positive yardage … On the last series, Wright was able to pick up some blocks in order to get some yards on the ground and Nick Hesse caught a nice throw from Tommy Rittenhouse at the beginning of the series.
•    The defense started to regain strength in the perimeter drill as Braden Price, Kenton Wilhoit and Brandon Simon were all credited with tackles-for-loss.
•    The second 7-on-7 session followed the perimeter drill … Jefferson, Rittenhouse and Morris rotated between snaps, with Jefferson again finishing 5-for-6 with the one incompletion being tipped by Zeke Vandenburgh … Morris was 4-for-6 while Rittenhouse was 4-for-4 as the offense continued to dominate … J'Kalon Carter, Jalen Carr, and Mitchell Lewis all had catches in this session … Taula, Jones, Khepera, Hesse, Presson Jr., Rutkiewicz, and Bailey also added to their catch totals on the day.
•    The team session towards the end of practice focused on converting on third down … The defense was the star of this session as they made big stops, sacks and pass breakups … Simon had a big stop as the quarterback tried to run for the first down … Cam Wilson and Walker had back-to-back sacks … On the final series of the day, Iverson Brown and Shanon Reid both had pass breakups, which were nearly interceptions.
•    JT Bohlken and Aidan Bresnahan closed out practice by booting the ball through the uprights on field goal attempts.

Up Next: 
The Redbirds return to the field Friday at 8:30 a.m. for practice No. 13. For updates, photos, and video from 2021 Redbird Football Fall Camp, follow the team's official Twitter (@RedbirdFB), Instagram (isuredbirdfb) and Facebook (isuredbirdfootball) accounts and log onto GoRedbirds.com.

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.