After dusting off the pads nearly three weeks ago to hit the practice field once again, the Colonels concluded their 2005 spring drills this week after a little more than two weeks of practicing.Head football coach Jay Thomas said things are looking positive for the Colonels.

“Everything has gone very smooth so far,” Thomas said. “Our guys have really been competing hard for spots. You see guys making mistakes, but as long as they correct those mistakes and give 110 percent then that’s all you can ask.”

One of the biggest factors in football is that injuries can occur, and although the Colonels have had their share of injuries this spring, Thomas said this team will be ready come August.

“We’re down to seven offensive linemen right now,” Thomas said. “We’re trying to back off on the contact some, but in order to get better you have to continue to work. None of our key injuries are serious, but it’ll hold some of our guys out through spring. Once they return, they’ll be ready for August.”

Thomas said there are three phases of preparation, and with the spring drills now complete, the Colonels can enter phase three.

“Phase one is right after the season and lasts until the players return to school. Phase two is the off-season program, which we just concluded. Phase three is what we’ll kick off that brings us into August.”

Upon beginning phase three of workouts, the Colonels will go through an off-season program over the summer, which will take them into the start of the next line of practices, which begin in August.

“Our guys do go home over the summer, but we give them an off-season weights and conditioning program,” Thomas said. “Everything we do over the summer is really just an extension of all that we did during the spring.”

With the injuries that the Colonels suffered, the spring game was changed to a simple situational scrimmage to keep the other athletes healthy.

“With our shortage of offensive linemen we’ll just have to have a situational scrimmage,” Thomas said. “It would be hard for us to divide up the teams so we’ll have to try something different.”

Despite the game only being a scrimmage, the players will still have a chance to showcase their talent in front of their peers.

“The game is for the players,” Thomas said. “It’s a chance for family, friends, fans and boosters to come out and get a look at what our guys have been doing during the whole off-season. We’ll have a few wrinkles in there so it’ll be good for the fans to come out and see some of the new things that we put in this spring. We may not be able to show much at this point, but we’ll show-off what we can.”

Although the season is still five months away, Thomas said having spring practice gives athletes a chance to showcase their skills as they compete for starting spots.

“Spring practice is all about competing, and our guys have done that this spring,” Thomas said. “It’s the opportunity for everybody to come out and compete for a position.”

The most heated battles are going on in the secondary and running back positions, but Thomas said everyone has competed well both offensively and defensively.

“Things went well for us besides the injuries,” Thomas said. “They’ll go home, and we’ll kick it off again in August.