Practice report: Saturday spring camp

Saturday’s Spring Camp workouts are now in the books. The team worked out for about two hours on a nice Saturday afternoon in Saskatoon with about 200 fans in attendance. They then took to the field again at 6:00 for about 90 minutes under sunny skies with very little wind.

On Friday night, the defense outperformed the offense, but the offense redeemed themselves yesterday.

Saskatchewan Roughriders scout Craig Smith was in attendance to check out the players available in this years’ CFL draft and to get a jump on previewing the Huskies who will be available in the draft in 2012.

As camp swung unto the final day before the annual Green and White scrimmage, the Huskies started working on more Team drills. The first two practices of camp saw a lot of technique and individual drills. Yesterday it was all about getting together in teams.

One item of note is that Joey Deason has moved to running back from his old position of defensive line. The coaches like his athletic ability and want to try him as a big back.

I spent most of Friday watching the linemen so yesterday I watched everyone else.

The Huskies are experimenting with different ways to get the ball to some of their key players on offense. Running backs Jeff Hassler and Dexter Janke both had good practices on Saturday. On one play, Hassler ran an out and up and scored a TD on a 45 yard reception down the right sideline. Janke was running hard up the middle and broke several tackles with one run resulting in a 30 yard touchdown. Put those to together with Ben Coakwell, who had a breakout season last year, and the running back situation looks in pretty good shape.

Defensive back Mitch Friesen is making the move to corner and he is having an impressive camp there. He had three knock-downs and one interception yesterday. He has consistently caught my eye.

On defense, I have also noticed lineman Joel Seutter dusting it up and getting in o a few tackles. Linebacker Seamus Neary seems to be near the ball all the time and has had a few pass knockdowns. Linebacker Peter Thiel and Safety Bryce McCall continue to improve as leaders and continue to make great plays.

Quarterback Trent Peterson had the best session of his Spring Camp last night. On one occasion, he threw the ball to Garet Bolen when Bolen had four defenders within two yards of him. No problem for Peterson though as the ball was thrown perfectly and Bolen got the first down.

Quarterback Jhalani Gilbert-Korren missed last night’s workout while writing his last exam. He looks impressive with his quickness and appears to have more zip on the ball.

The play of the day yesterday came courtesy of new recruit Jordan Hilgers, who played at Humboldt Collegiate last season. The 6’2” linebacker was dropping into zone coverage during scrimmage. The Huskies quarterback rolled to his side and threw the ball into the flats. Hilgers came out of nowhere and dove what looked like five yards in the air to knock the pass down. It was one of those “did he really do that?” moments.

The Huskies have their annual Green and White Scrimmage today at 11:00. They will likely run somewhere between 80 and 100 plays, based on what they have done in past years. There is no cost for admission, so a good crowd is expected.