April 23, 2008

Football Holds Rare Game to Finish Spring Drills

White Defeats Blue, 21-14; QB Race Down to Three

     Kearney, Neb. –  The Nebraska-Kearney football team ended spring workouts this past Saturday (April 19^th) with a rare intrasquad game.

      In previous years, UNK held a regular full-contact workout in its last spring practice. This year, head coach Darrell Morris and his staff divided the team into "Blue" and "White" squads.

      Behind a ball control offense, the White beat the Blue, 21-14.

      "We tried to mix things up this year and let the kids have a little bit of fun," said Morris. "Instead of banging around another day, we wanted to do something a little more interesting and I think the kids enjoyed it."

      The game consisted of 80 plays (20 plays in four quarters) with teams taking over at the 25-yard line. There were some limitations on hitting the quarterback and teams could only fair catch punts.

      "We tried to make it even as we could," said Morris. "This (game) gave us an opportunity to evaluate individuals on fundamentals, technique, hustle. We didn't worry too much about not being able to do this or that."

      Redshirt freshmen Bobby Adamson (Byers, Colo.) now leads the race to be the Lopers' starting quarterback in 2008 as he went 6 of 8 for 183 yards and two TD's.

      Playing for the Blue team, the scoring passes covered 67 and 70 yards and went to sophomore-to-be Kyle Kaiser (Broomfield, Colo.).

      Fellow second-year freshmen Jake Spitzlberger (Lakewood, Colo.) also had a solid spring game (7 of 11 for 90 yards; one rushing TD), as did Kearney senior Justin Arellano (8 of 14 for 89 yards, one TD). Both played for the White squad.

      "Right now, Bobby is number one on the depth chart, Jake is number two and Justin is third," said Morris. "Bobby isn't the starter yet; he is just number one now. He seemed to have the best spring. Both Jake and Justin bring other things to the table."

      In 2006, Adamson led Class 1A -- the smallest in Colorado -- in passing yards with 2,308. Ironically, in Class 5A, the large school class in Colorado, Spitzlberger led the way (3,149).

      As the backup to Dennis Havrilla last year, Arellano was 9 of 18 for 163 yards, three TD's and one interception.

      "Summer is big for these guys; how much time they spend throwing, how much time they work with the wideouts, how much time they watch film on their own," said Morris. "Also, who comes out to be the biggest leader in organizing summer passing drills because we can't do that as coaches."

      On the edge, Kaiser was the team's fourth option last fall, catching 16 balls for 275 yards and three TD's. He also had 330 punt and kick return yards.

      Others expected to help replace departed senior receivers Tyler McNitt and Cory Sleeth are junior college transfer Tyrone Hilton (Miami, Fla./Southwestern College, Calif.) and tight ends Adam Drudik (Adams Central/Fort Hays State U.) and Dane Rudeen (Overton).

      "Kyle will be a good receiver in the RMAC. He can catch the ball and has take-it-to-the-house speed. People will struggle in our league covering Tyrone while this is the best group of tight ends since we had Joel Jacobs (three-time All-RMAC selection; played in the NFL)."

      Up front, UNK returns it's entire startling lineup from last fall. Veteran Eric Paicurich (Westminster, Colo.) was expected to return after missing last fall with injury but was still hobbled. It's hoped he'll be back for call camp.

      "We ran some experiments here this spring, trying to find the right guys and develop some depth," said Morris. "We took Jake McGlade, our starting left guard, and worked him at center to try and get a backup behind Jack (Hiett)," said Morris. "We then took Stephen Goodin, a backup tackle last year, and put him at left guard."

      In the back field, sophomore Brendan Liess (McCook) ran for 475 yards and three TD's last year while playing behind departed senior Jake Richards.

      UNK will not have a senior or junior back on the roster this fall but sophomores Riley Newcomer (Morrison, Colo.), Travis Wegener (Humphrey-St. Francis) and redshirt freshmen Derrick Grant (Goodwell, Okla.) should give UNK plenty of options.

      A veteran defense welcomed the return of redshirt junior safety Jake Mandelko (Lexington), who missed last fall with a back injury. He joins a secondary that already has several upperclassmen, including senior corner/safety Dusty Loeffelholz (Amherst). 

      "Our experience on defense, especially early in the year and maybe with a young QB running our offense, should be a plus," sad Morris. "It's imperative we play good, solid sound defense in those first two games."

      Transfers Micah Madlock (Lincoln/San Diego Mesa College) and Darrell Bostick (Killeen, Texas/Western New Mexico U.) should help bolster depth at linebacker, where All-RMAC performers Nick Oberle and Kirk Peterson have graduated.

      In the spring game, Madlock scooped up a fumble and rumbled 54 yards for the first score.

      "We still have several seniors at linebacker that are good football players. It's not a real flashy group but some blue collar guys that will work hard in the weight room, practice had and play hard," said Morris.      

     Up front, UNK is stocked with several talented linemen and ends, led by fifth-year seniors Jonathon Cannon (Killeen, Texas) and Nate Reicks (McCook).

      "I don’t think there is a better defensive end in the RMAC then Nate. I don't care what the all-conference voting says."

      The Lopers being fall workouts in early August and will start the 2008 season on  August 30^th when Wayne State visits Ron & Carol Cope Stadium. Game time is TBA.