NORMAL, Ill. – The first scrimmage is in the books for the Illinois State football team and work resumed on Monday at Hancock Stadium, as the Redbirds began their final week of fall training camp before Saturday's public Red-White Scrimmage and the start of classes next Monday.
Practice Highlights:
•   Once again, the Redbirds took the field in full pads as practice began with the normal special team circuit, before moving onto the individual position drills, the blitz period, and the perimeter session.
•   Action then moved to the normal 7-on-7 period with Zack Annexstad going a perfect 4-for-4 with completions to Bryson Deming, Brock Annexstad, J'Kalon Carter and a 35-yard strike to Tristan Bailey.
•   Jackson Waring and Timothy Dorsey also took reps, with Waring also going 4-for-4 with two completions to Javon Charles and Dorsey finishing 3-for-4 with a pair of connections to Eddie Kasper and the lone incompletion coming on a great pass breakup by Frank Schmitt.
•   The team period was split into two specific scenarios, with the first being a 3rd down drill and the practice ending with a two-minute period.
•   In the 3rd down drill, each unit got four tries to convert on 3rd-and-short and 3rd-and-long situations and the first-team unit started things off strong, with pickups on the first three tries before a pass breakup by Jeff Bowens on 3rd-and-7 got a win for defense.
•   Likewise, the second-team unit was strong, going 3-for-4 including a pickup on 3rd-and-7 on a connection from Tommy Rittenhouse to Daniel Sobkowicz that moved the chains.
•   The defense held strong on the third drive, only giving up a first down on 3rd- and-1 before shutting down the offense on big stops by Tye Niekamp and Connor Leyden.
•   The first-team unit got another crack and split with the defense, picking up a first down on 3rd-and 2 with a tough run by Pha'leak Brown and on 3rd-and-8 on a connection from Annexstad to Deming for 15 yards.
•   The second-team unit also split, as they also picked up a big gain of 12 yards on the ground from Rashad Lampkin on 3rd-and-8.
•   The defense held again on the third-team's second attempt, allowing a pickup on 3rd-and-2 before buckling down for three-straight stops.
•   Then it was time for each of the three units to go on a two-minute drill, as the offense started on their own 37 with 2:10 on the clock … the first-team defense held strong and forced a stop near midfield on a sack by Jeremiah Jordan that put an end to the drive.
•   The second-team unit was extremely methodical on its chance, driving the field on 11 plays for the touchdown … strong runs from Nigel White and a big completion from Rittenhouse to Sobkowicz set up a clock play with nine seconds left … on the ensuing play, Rittenhouse found Charles in the endzone for the four-yard score and the extra point by Josh Jasek was good.
•   Likewise, the third-team unit also found paydirt as it went on a 9-play scoring drive with the big play coming on a connection from Dorsey to Joe Dochee Jr. that moved the ball inside the 20-yard line … the drill was capped off with 29 seconds left on the clock as Dorsey found David Connors Jr. for the score and Jack Takerian booted the extra point through the uprights.
Up Next:Â
The Redbirds return to the field Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for practice No. 11 under the lights at Hancock Stadium. For updates, photos, and video from 2022 Redbird Football Fall Camp, follow the team's official Twitter (@RedbirdFB) and Instagram (isuredbirdfb) accounts and log onto GoRedbirds.com.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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