Lumberjacks kick off spring football drills

[dbackjon]

http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2008 ... rts_40.txt

Ever since his team lost to Eastern Washington to end its 2007 season, NAU football coach Jerome Souers has been waiting for April 1.

Well, that date has finally arrived and Souers is a happy camper. Today, his Lumberjacks will put on the pads for the first time since that disappointing loss and get down to work in spring practice.

NAU will open spring practice this morning at 7 a.m. and it will culminate on April 26 with a spring scrimmage.


Lance Kriesien returns for his fifth and final season as a Lumberjack, and right now is listed as the No. 1 quarterback on Souers' depth chart.

However, that is subject to change. Kriesien will be challenged by a number of signal-callers looking to take over that top spot.

The player that seems to have the best chance to challenge for it is Michael Herrick. Herrick transferred to NAU before the spring semester started from the University of Mississippi. He spent two seasons there, and spent them both as a backup.

Herrick will be joined by Corey Slater and Pete Hargis, challenging Kriesien for the job

[dbackjon]

Filling Watson's shoes will be a HUGE challenge for the Jacks.


Replacing the DL will also be a big key to how well NAU fares in 2008.

[Ursus A. Horribilis]

Sounds very similar to the state of Grizzly football this year as far as the positions go.

[dbackjon]

http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2008 ... rts_47.txt

As pleased as he was with the first week of spring practice, NAU head football coach Jerome Souers wasn't sad to see it go by.

With the first week out of the way, Souers and the rest of his coaching staff can now start focusing on actual game situations and new items for the playbook. The first week was mostly spent going through the motions and allowing the players to get their legs underneath them for the final three-plus weeks of practice.

"There's a lot more situational stuff going on during the second week," Souers said. "We'll throw some new wrinkles at the defense and just give quite a bit more stuff to the guys in general."

This week, NAU will spend time going over goal line situations as well as practicing third down plays and other game situations.

"I think the first week you just want to make sure everybody has good fundamentals down and is good shape conditioning wise," Souers said.

One change in this year's spring practice is the Jacks will throw in more contact drills, allowing them to simulate game conditions even more. With the team having more overall depth on both sides of the ball, Souers can allow the team to get more physical than in years past when the roster was thinner.

[citdog]

with fans like dback i predict that the lumberjacks will take a licking and then get flipped over and done dry.

[dbackjon]

with fans like dback i predict that the lumberjacks will take a licking and then get flipped over and done dry.

No one turns a phrase like the doggie...

[citdog]

with fans like dback i predict that the lumberjacks will take a licking and then get flipped over and done dry.

No one turns a phrase like the doggie...

thanks Jon! i'll remember that forever....... or at least until i get out to my car!

[dbackjon]

04/19/2008) FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Quarterback depth will not be problem for the Northern Arizona football team in 2008. With three talented signal callers in spring camp, the Lumberjacks have the depth to make for a competitive position battle right up until kickoff against Arizona State on August 30.
A year ago injuries quickly left the Lumberjacks depleted at quarterback. Transfer Corey Slater had gone down in the second game at Arizona. Against Sacramento State, starter Lance Kriesien was injured in the first series, leaving backup Ricky Odorfer to finish the game since No. 2 man Pete Hargis was hurt in practice two days earlier. It was a situation Head Coach Jerome Souers wants to avoid again.

Kriesien, a senior entering his fifth year in the program, returns as the starter entering the spring. Slater is back on the field after rehabilitating his knee injury. The Lumberjacks added transfer Michael Herrick from Ole Miss, while recruiting a top prep talent out of California.

“It is a very competitive position with a lot of talent,” said quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren. “They are progressing in the spring. The quarterback race will continue into the fall as we look for the guy who will be able to take us. We cannot get enough reps for them right now.”

Kriesien has the advantage as the most experienced player in the system. He threw for 1,897 yards and 10 touchdowns against seven interceptions last season. He also rushed for 868 yards and eight touchdowns.

http://nau.newtier.com/index.php?module ... 8&sid=2242

[dbackjon]

Defensive Line Using Spring to Reload

In football, it is often said games are won or lost in the trenches. For the Northern Arizona football team, both sides of the ball have consistently fielded talented offensive and defensive lines. This year though, the challenge facing defensive line coach Bill Smith will be to mold a young inexperienced unit into a skilled group capable of handling the responsibility of winning the battle up front.
The offensive looks to return a core of starters on last season's unit for the fall campagain. The defensive line was less fortunate with three key contributors lost to graduation.

The Lumberjacks return a wealth of talent offensively and even in the second and third levels of the defense, but arguably the most important unit for a football team, the defensive line, is unknown and unproven.

“We lost some key guys from last year,” said Smith of 2007’s All-Big Sky honorees Blair Boynton and Drew Hoffman along with nose tackle Joshua Williams. “You don’t replace the kind of talent we had over night. It’s going to be a challenge for these kids.”

The losses up front are substantial, but Smith likes what this current group has shown him so far.

Seven talented defensive linemen opened camp for the Lumberjacks this spring: Isaac Bond, Jermaine Jackson, Stephen Nwogbe, Kyle Rath, Dan Pela, Jason Smith, and Brandon Vance. With seven repping in spring ball, Smith expects a unit of 11 or 12 strong come fall practice. It will be difficult for the 2008 unit to match the success of Boynton, Hoffman, and Williams, but Smith is confident this group will rise to the challenge.

“They are young but I like their talent level,” said Smith of his unit this spring. “I like the kids we have recruited. We also have some junior college kids who will step in and compete for playing time. We have two good high school players coming in who could use a year of seasoning, but also could contribute. Overall, I like what we have.”

Coach Smith is pleased to have back Stephen Nwogbe, a 6-2, 300, junior out of Las Vegas, Nev. Nwogbe played in four games last season recording six total tackles.

“He’s really the man inside for us,” said Smith of Nwogbe’s place in the middle of the three-down scheme. “Steve is going to see a lot of playing time. He’s got experience and is one of our veteran guys.”

Brandon Vance, 6-2, 230, and Kyle Rath, 6-4, 245, are two intriguing players for NAU. Both enter spring practice as second semester freshmen after earning playing time last fall. Vance played in eight games in 2007 totaling 10 tackles while Rath appeared in 10 games with 14 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Vance, a true freshman, and Rath, a redshirt freshman, will need to step in as sophomores and fill the voids left by Boynton and Hoffman.


http://nau.newtier.com/index.php?module ... 8&sid=2243

[dbackjon]

Spring Football Game, New Turf Unveiled Saturday
(04/25/2008) FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona University football team will hold its annual spring game at 12:15 p.m. inside the Walkup Skydome. It will be the debut for the REALGRASS surface installed over the last month. There will be a barbeque outside the Skydome near the Louie the Lumberjack statue outside the Skydome at the main entrance. The BBQ is $5. There will also be a Kid’s Fun Zone at the main entrance. The BBQ and Kid's Fun Zone begin at 11:30 a.m.

http://nau.newtier.com/index.php?module ... 8&sid=2253