University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Ends First Week of Spring Practice Saturday Morning
3/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 24, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss finished its first week of the spring, Saturday morning, with a 2 ½ hour practice at the Joe P. Park Facility as the football team ended the final portion of the workout by enjoying their first full-contact work.
For the Golden Eagles, it finished the first of four straight weeks of full-team workouts and coach Jeff Bower liked what he saw over the team's first four practices.
"It was a good first week and I was really pleased with our effort," said Bower, who has accumulated a 112-77-1 record over the previous 16 seasons at Southern Miss. "We have a lot of guys working really hard and they had a good day today. We ended the practice with a short-yardage goal-line scrimmage and, for the first time this spring, our players were able to take guys to the ground."
Over the final two periods of practice, the Golden Eagles first worked on short-yardage situations with full offense and defense in a controlled environment, before finishing the morning workout with its goal-line scrimmage that included tackling for the first time all spring.
During both drills, the offense converted on 3-of-8 attempts. During the short-yardage situation, redshirt freshman Christian Fletcher had a long run and reserved quarterback, redshirt freshman Martevious Young, hit redshirt freshman tight end Thomas Webb for a completion deep downfield.
As for the goal-line scrimmage, redshirt senior running back Marcus Raines, along with sophomore running backs Damion Fletcher and Tory Harrison, each delivered with touchdown runs.
After the scrimmage, Bower said he was pleased with the play of both units during the practice.
"There were good things on both sides of the ball," Bower added.
The Golden Eagles return to practice, Tuesday, March 27, with a 3:30 p.m. workout on the Southern Miss campus. Spring practice concludes April 14, at 1 p.m., with the team's annual spring game.
For football season tickets, call 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or via the internet at SouthernMiss.com.
