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Annual Bruce Craddock Memorial Spring Football Game to be held Saturday at 1:05 p.m.
Courtesy: Jason Kaufman
Junior Mike McEachern has been drawing interest from the Canadian Football League, which holds its draft at the end of this month. Players chosen in the CFL Draft are still eligibile to compete in their senoir seasons.
Western Illinois University head football coach Don Patterson met with members of the local media Tuesday morning, sharing his thoughts on the spring football season and previewing Saturday’s annual Bruce Craddock Memorial Scrimmage.
The Leathernecks will conclude the four-week long spring practice season with an intrasquad scrimmage at 1:05 p.m. Saturday on Hanson Field. Similar to the past several seasons, the scrimmage will pit the offense (in white uniforms) against the defense (in purple) using a modified scoring system in which points are awarded for first downs on offense and defensive stops on defense, in addition to the traditional scoring rules. The scrimmage will consist of 12-minute quarters and will highlight the first teams against the second teams.
Karen Henderson, widow of former Leatherneck coach Bruce Craddock, will again be on hand to officiate the coin toss.
“Coach Craddock was and still is such an important part of Leatherneck football that we are very honored to have Karen with us each year,” said Patterson.
Craddock coached the Leathernecks from 1983-89, leading them to a 41-35-1 record before being overcome by cancer. The Gateway Football Conference’s coach of the year award is now named in his honor.
There is no admission fee for the scrimmage, however a donation to the Bruce Craddock Scholarship Fund is suggested.
Patterson quotes on spring football :
“I don’t think spring ball could have gone much better. We have had a few injuries here or there but that’s the nature of the game. I expect every last one of those players to be ready for the fall. And almost every player who was healthy going into spring ball will play this weekend.”
“We have real competition at several positions. Even with nine starters coming back on each side of the ball, and with some very experienced players returning, we are seeing some battles. Much of that is due to effective recruiting, especially on defense. Our defensive coaches haven’t made too many mistakes on recruiting and we’re starting to see the results of that.”
“This defense is even more refined than it was last fall. Coach Casey has a very good idea of how this particular group of players can play together and can carry out their schemes. They have been in the program long enough that their fundamentals are really solid right now. In that regard, we have been able to tinker more than what we could normally do in the spring.”
“One of our biggest concerns is our offensive line. We lost both guards from last year. Most people will say you need a minimum of eight solid linemen to succeed and we’re still looking for those eight.”
“It might be assumed that a team has a great opportunity to win every year. But reality is that some years you have a lot better opportunity to win than others. This is one of those years that we have a better opportunity than normal. Now we have to take full advantage of it. It’s not just going to happen. We won’t go out and have a great season just because we have 20 returning starters. It’s going to require those 20 players, as well as the other 80, to have the right attitude and put in the hard work over the summer.”
“If you look at each of the teams in the Gateway on paper and judge how good they’re going to be, it’s safe to say we appear on paper to be one of the better teams coming back. Again, that doesn’t guarantee any wins at all. There are other teams on paper that look really strong as well. North Dakota State returns seven first-team all-conference players. We all know how good they were last year and I expect them to be just as tough an opponent this year. I would expect them to likely be picked to win the conference this year.”
Spring Football Notes
• Redshirt-freshman Teague Dentino has made a successful switch from linebacker to defensive line. He has been placed in the two-deep behind senior Josh Galloway at right end for Saturday and should fill a similar role this fall.
• Another player who has seen a successful position change this spring is Terry Barney, who moved from wide receiver to defensive back and is likely to start at free safety this Saturday. Barney, at 6-foot-4, matches Bryan Cox (1987-90) as the tallest defensive back in Western Illinois’ Division I era.
• Defensive back Tim Jackson will miss the spring game due to being out of the country. He will be attending his brother’s wedding in South Korea.
• Defensive back Mike McEachern is attracting attention by the 2008 CFL Draft, held April 30. McEachern would still be eligible to compete in his senior season. His father, Ken, was an 11-year veteran defensive back in the CFL from 1974-84.
• With the departure of Will Ducey, McEachern has become the new holder for Taylor Rowan. McEachern was one of the highest-rated quarterbacks coming out of Canada when he signed with Western Illinois, but quickly found a home on the defensive side of the ball. He is the first defensive player to serve as holder in Patterson’s nine seasons.
• With only two quarterbacks in camp (sophomore Matt Barr, senior Zack Wells) the whistles on the red jerseys will be quicker than normal Saturday, a very stark contrast to last year in which the quarterbacks were live for the first time.
• Punter Chris Fuchs has been pulling double-duty this spring and will miss the scrimmage in order to fulfill his role as closer on the Leatherneck baseball team. He has allowed just four hits and four earned runs while striking out seven in 10 innings of work this spring. Place-kicker Taylor Rowan will handle the punting duties this Saturday.
• An NCAA committee is working on expanding the FCS playoffs from 16 teams to 20 teams by 2010.
Let's Go WESTERN !!
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Forum Member
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| Thanks for sending this information to us. Good reading.
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Come ooonnnn, Seven One Two. This ain't for da smack lounge.
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To Pit Pronasticator:
I placed the Spring Football info here because I did not want to over-ride currently active topics at the other Discussion Forums.
This one had been idle for a while.
Let's Go WESTERN !!
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It's okay. No need to make excuses. They sell those reading glasses with the strap for old timers at Walgreens and they are fairly cheap. 
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 Ha, ha, you got me Pit and you Zoomed in an got 712, you're a regular CHiP's patrol.
OH, 712 I like that last line on your post that reads "play offs to be expanded from 16 to 20" that is a welcome change IMO.
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Coach P's coment about the O line has me feeling less than confident.
I sure hope NDSU dosen't win the Gateway their first season. That would be rude. Quit buttin in line Bison were next
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[quote]western-101 (4/16/2008)
Ha, ha, you got me Pit and you Zoomed in an got 712, you're a regular CHiP's patrol.
OH, 712 I like that last line on your post that reads "play offs to be expanded from 16 to 20" that is a welcome change IMO.[/quote]
Just trying to keep you guys in line.
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