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Eagles nearing finish of spring
04.10 gsu file
If he is granted another year of eligibility, Irving Campbell (80) could bolster an already deep corps of GSU receivers. - photo by File photo

With the Blue-White game just around the corner, Georgia Southern football entered its final week of spring practice Monday morning at the football practice fields.

A stark difference from Sunday’s sunny weather and warm temperatures, the cool and wet conditions made little difference in the way second-year head coach Chris Hatcher and the Eagles performed.

“You just don’t pay any attention to it,” he said. “You just go on with practice as planned. I thought we had a pretty good practice being a Monday after a good, hard week, last week. Then tomorrow hopefully we will come out with a little bit more fire, because we’ll have full pads on.”

The practice was a makeup from the prior week’s postponed meeting on account of inclement weather. The Eagles worked out in shells, checking off a fundamentals checklist through a series of team offensive and defensive drills, field goals, and later skeleton and full scrimmages.

For Hatcher, fundamentals are just what the team needs.

“I like spring ball because it gives you a chance to get out there and coach and not have to worry about preparing for an opponent,” he said. “So it’s good that you get to work on fundamentals. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Fifteen days isn’t enough for us right now.”

Eagle quarterbacks Kyle Collins and Lee Chapple made some big plays in the air. Collins connected with Raja Andrews and Joe Haynie for a pair of touchdowns. Chapple hit Michael McIntosh and Steve Cundari for touchdown receptions.

The defense continued to show the same strength it displayed during last week’s training. A pair of team sacks and two individual takedowns by James Arowoselu and Casey Wingard gave the offense some trouble. There were also four pass breakups and Anthony Jones had an interception in the end zone.

Amid the many standout plays from both individual players and team units, Hatcher noted the need for improvement.

“We’ve got a lot of fundamental work that we need to do, and there are still a couple of guys that are battling to be a part of the team next fall,” Hatcher said. “We’ve got to get better this week and we have three more practices to do that. I don’t put a whole bunch of stock into the spring game like a lot of people do. That’s just again another chance for the guys to go out there and have a good time and finish up the drills.”

This year’s annual Blue-White game will be presented by the Georgia Neighborhood Ford Dealers. The game is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Paulson Stadium. Play-by-play voice Chris Blair and color analyst Terry Harvin will broadcast the game on Eagle 102.9 FM and via the Internet at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.

The radio show will begin 30 minutes before the 1 p.m. kickoff.

Spring practice schedule
(dates/times subject to change... all times at 8 a.m. unless otherwise noted)
April 10 (full)
April 11 (shorts)
April 12: Blue-White game presented by the Georgia Neighborhood Ford Dealers (1 p.m.)