Football team gearing up for spring game Saturday
The Central Michigan football team is entering its fifth week of practice this week and anticipation of the spring game has started to accumulate.
There is one practice remaining before the spring game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
“You always get excited for the spring game,” junior defensive end Kenny McClendon said. “People come out and you can show off what everyone’s been working on, give everyone a sneak preview of what’s coming next season.”
Head coach Dan Enos said the spring game is more exciting for the players and fans than the coaching staff.
“I think the spring game is fun for the players and fans, but the coaches don’t get as much of a thrill out of it,” Enos said. “We’re trying to get through it and make sure nobody gets hurt moving into the offseason. But it’s great for the players because they can get out in front of people and play.”
The team previously scrimmaged for nearly the entire practice and ran about 100 plays.
“We got a lot of situations in,” Enos said. “There were some mistakes, but for the most part, I thought it was very spirited. I thought defensively we played extremely well and were dominant in the early part of the scrimmage. Then the offense ended up turning the tides and got some big plays later in the game to win the scrimmage.”
McClendon said he is pleased with how practice has gone so far and can see the team is focused on improving every day.
“I think spring practice is going pretty good,” he said. “The offense is doing some good things; the defense is doing some good things, so we’re working together as a team to work towards our goal which is to win a MAC Championship.”
Running back Anthony Garland said at this point, the offense is focusing on consistency.
“We’re trying to accomplish rhythm,” he said. “We have most of our sets in, all our plays in, now we’re just trying to find that offensive rhythm where we just stay on beat and have everything come together.”
Garland saw limited action this spring while rehabbing an ankle injury he sustained at the end of last season. He said he has been impressed with how the other running backs have performed thus far.
“I think we’re going to have a quadruple threat,” Garland said. “We have four lethal weapons in the backfield and have a great blend of power, speed and elusiveness.”
Garland, along with sophomore Austin White and juniors Zurlon Tipton and Tim Phillips, are all expected to see time at running back next season.
