Indians primed for spring game

May 15, 2008 10:22 pm

— Thursday’s rain didn’t stop Murray County from holding its final scheduled practice before today’s spring game, but it did force a change of venue.
Players traded their cleats for tennis shoes to run plays in the gymnasium, the first indoor workout of coach Josh Lowe’s short tenure with the Indians. Lowe is conducting his second spring practice in Chatsworth after leaving Randolph-Macon to replace Bill Napier as Murray County’s head coach.
“Regardless of weather, rain or shine, we traditionally practice outside,” Lowe said. “If this was mid-season, we’d be on the field right now. But we’ll use today as a day to talk to the players and focus more on teaching them. There’s no need to risk injury.”
The injury bug has already taken a few bites out of the Indians this spring.
Sophomore-to-be Taylor Patterson, who is competing for playing time at quarterback, suffered a hamstring injury Wednesday and Jacob Bajer, a returning starter at running back and free safety, suffered a concussion last week.
Patterson is considered day-to-day and may be ready for today’s game, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Murray Field. Bajer, on the other hand, will not play and will likely be out until summer workouts starting on June 2.
Though the forecast calls for rain, Lowe said plans are to conduct the spring game as scheduled.
Injuries aside, Lowe is pleased with how the spring practices have progressed.
“We’ve been productive, based on the new faces and new places,” said Lowe, referring to the 10 new defensive starters and new offensive coordinator Michael Hill installing a spread offense. “We’ve had a solid spring and the players are fast to pick up on new things. We’ve still got a long way to go and a lot of plays to install, but with this being spring, I’d rather us focus on five things and get them right instead of trying to do 15 things and get them wrong.”
One of the 10 new starters on defense is linebacker Zac Dills, who started at running back last season. On defense, he’ll be replacing departing senior Zach Baggett, and he says he’s up for the challenge.
“Zach was a great mentor,” Dills said. “He’s helped me a lot, in terms of going through the reads and showing me how to play at the varsity level. The (linebacker) position will be a little bit of an adjustment for me, because I’m not as sharp as I want to be on the reads yet, but I feel I can make up for that with my athletic ability.”
On offense, starting tackle Cory Pritchett is looking to have his best season. Pritchett, who is gearing up for his senior season, has been contacted by The Citadel, a Football Championship Subdivision school located in Charleston, S.C., and is hoping to extend his football career at the next level. He will visit the Southern Conference school in late-June to participate in a three-day workout.
Heading in to the spring game, he is optimistic about the offensive line.
“This is the biggest offensive line we’ve had in years,” said Pritchett, who now weighs 270 pounds, up 120 from his freshman year. “Our size fits the offense well, because we’re going to open some big holes for our runners. We definitely have a better team, you can see the difference.”
Dills also sees the improvement.
“Murray County will show up to play this season,” he said.
In today’s game that wraps up spring drills, Lowe is wants to see how the work put in translates in a game-type situation.
“I want to see how the players react in the field of competition,” Lowe said. “The intrasqaud lineups will be evenly matched, and some of these guys are battling neck and neck for starting positions, so this game should give us an idea of which players will have the edge heading into the summer.”

Photos

Murray County junior Josh Zeigler runs a drill during a recent spring workout as other Indians running backs await their turn. The Indians will hold their spring game today at 6 p.m. at the high school stadium. Matt Hamilton