FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (April 9, 2019) – The NAU football team hit the practice field for its seventh workout of the spring practice season on Tuesday afternoon at the Skydome outdoor fields.
As has been the standard throughout the spring, the Lumberjacks opened practice with positional drills and technique work before moving on to larger group work and team sessions.
The team periods focused on the running game on both sides of the ball. Both the offensive and defensive fronts had moments of success as they battled each other in the trenches during a stretch of practice that featured physical play with a string of inside run repetitions.
The Lumberjacks will return to practice on Thursday, April 11 beginning at 4 p.m. at the Skydome outdoor practice fields.
All of NAU's spring practice sessions are free and open to the public, including the NAU Spring Football Showcase which is slated for Friday, April 26 at 6 p.m. MST.
Highlights
- Senior Joe Logan had a number of nice runs during the initial team session, including a 40-yard touchdown burst up the middle.
- Senior Sherrod Paige had a solid performance for the defense as he racked up a big tackle for loss with a run stop, recorded a sack and did a consistent job of securing the edge throughout the team periods.
- Junior Keenan Mitchell made a big hit on a run up the middle by the offense.
- Junior Justis Stokes hauled in a couple of nice receptions, including a nice leaping catch on an out route.
- Sophomores Derek Edwards and Seth Clem combined for a sack.
- Sophomore Jalen Knox and junior Adonis Battle had a good performance against the running game as both exhibited good penetration at the line of scrimmage on numerous plays.
- Junior Jamarri Jackson posted an interception during team drills after displaying tight coverage on a number of preceding plays.
- Freshman Jacob Mpungi ripped off a 30-yard run around the left side of the line.
- Junior Elijah Orr recovered a fumble and returned it for a score.
- Senior Brandon Lawless blocked a field goal attempt on the final play of practice.
Quotable
Assistant Coach –Wide Receivers
Junior Taylor
"They (wide receivers) are battling out there every day for me. That is all I ask is that every day they give max effort and come out here and compete. We haven't had a consistent day with our one's, our two's and our three's all healthy. It always has been someone else stepping up. I tell them to come out each day and battle, get in our playbooks and made sure we are pushing the tempo. We just want to get better every day."
"This is a very talented group (of wide receivers). I think the sky is the limit for this group. Once we get some of our guys back healthy, we will be good. It is one of those things where it is a gift and a curse some of the guys getting hurt. You don't want to see that and we have no major injuries, but at the same time a lot of our younger guys are getting a lot of reps. So now those guys who haven't had a lot of reps in previous years are going to be more experienced and then when we get our veteran guys back it will make our whole room a lot stronger."
Up Next
The Lumberjacks return to practice on Thursday, April 11 at 4 p.m. MST at the Skydome outdoor fields.
All practices are open to the public and free admission.
