RICHMOND, Ky. - Coach Roy Kidd's Eastern Kentucky University Colonel football team will play the Maroon-White Spring Game, signaling the end of spring practice, Saturday night (Apr. 17) at 7:00 p.m. at Roy Kidd Stadium.
The Colonels, who return 32 lettermen for the 1999 season, have been practicing four days for the past three weeks and have not missed any days of planned drills because of weather, setting up Saturday's scrimmage perfectly.
"We're having trouble with depth in our offensive and defensive lines this spring because of so many injuries, but I still believe we'll be able to have enough to have a game that will have our offense playing against our defense. The defense will be able to score points on stopping drives and other key defensive plays," Kidd said.
Kidd has been very pleased with his team's attitude and enthusiasm, but would love to see his squad, his 36th at EKU, become a little tougher.
"We've worked harder on tackling than ever before this spring, but I would still love to see us get a little meaner and tougher out there. Strength, speed and toughness are things we need to improve before we play our first game this September," Kidd added.
Although several key players have missed drills (as many as 15 regulars have missed either some or all of practice thus far), Kidd and his staff have been able to see some of the reserves' skills in more detail than ever before.
"This has been a great opportunity for us. We've had a chance to work a lot more with our younger players and see how they react in game situations in the scrimmages we've played this spring," Kidd said.
In the battle of the quarterbacks between junior Waylon Chapman and junior redshirt Chad Collins, Kidd said Chapman has emerged as the top signal-caller for the Colonels.
"Right now, Waylon is No. 1," Kidd said.
Kidd and his staff are hoping to make it through this last week of spring drills without any more injuries in preparation for next fall's rugged 11-game schedule.
"Overall, it has been a real good spring practice. The weather has been great and has let us go about practice just like we drew it up before spring drills began. We need to work on our conditioning during the summer months and come in here next August ready to work hard and mold into the team we think we can have by our season opener," Kidd said.
Saturday's Maroon-White Game is open to the public and there will be no charge for admission.