Spring is in the air for the Lights

Spring is here and that often means the start of new things. And for the Montana State University-Northern football team, a fresh start is exactly what's needed.

And a fresh start is exactly what the Lights will get this week as they get back on the practice field for spring football. The first practice will take place Tuesday at 4 p.m., at the practice field on the MSU-Northern campus.

The Lights, who struggled to an 0-11 record in 2015, are getting ready for their second season under the direction of head coach Aaron Christensen. And that means, they are much further ahead of where they were last spring, simply because there is already a familiarity with the offensive and defensive systems.

"We are much further ahead compared to last year," Christensen said. "Part of it is because they know our system better, but also at this point last year, I hadn't even seen a lot of these kids play. And there are just so many little things, once you have been around for a year, guys just kind of understand how things work. You are not constantly coaching little things. There was a lot of learning, even for me, learning who you have and who you don't and that sort of thing."

The Lights are also much better off in terms of overall numbers. Last spring, Northern had around 50 players on its spring roster. This time around, it has upwards of 70. And a number of those players are redshirt freshmen who will be looking to carve out a spot on the two-deep.

"I think every year you get excited to see those guys that redshirted the year before," Christensen said. "The year before, they aren't really ready to play and they get to the point in the season when they are not really competing for a spot anymore. Then, you get to spring football and you have a chance to compete for a spot and it's exciting to see that. You get to see those guys mature a little bit and do the things you think they can."

However, the learning curve will still be steep and that is due to the youth of Northern's roster, which is one reason why the Lights had such a difficult time last season in the rough-and-tumble Frontier Conference. The Lights had one of the youngest rosters in the conference and that caused some definite growing pains.

No place was that more evident than at quarterback, where sophomore Jess Krahn got his first full season of starting experience. In 11 games, the signal-caller completed just 46 percent of his passes, while throwing eight touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Yet, even though there were some bumps in the road, as the season wore on, and as Krahn got more comfortable in the offense, his play improved. And during the final month of the season, he played some of his best football, passing for 298 yards and three touchdowns against Eastern Oregon, as well as 293 yards and a touchdown against Rocky Mountain College.

"I thought that Jess got a lot better," Christensen said. "And he can still get better."

However, the coach refused to call Krahn his starter, but said that across the board, every position was open to competition.

"I don't like calling people a starter at this point," Christensen said. "Whoever is playing the best is going to play. We want to have that competition at each and every position and I think we are in a much better position to do that."

The improvement in Krahn also had to do with an offensive line that started a number of young players, but steadily improved as the season went along. However, even when the passing game struggled, the running game, led by Zach McKinley, was as strong as ever and should be a staple of the Light offense again in 2016.

As a junior, McKinley rushed for over 1,100 yards and finished the season with more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage. The senior joins other key returners on the offense such as fellow running back Mario Gobbato, offensive lineman Pere Morales and tight end Kagen Khamaneh, who had 20 receptions for 199 yards and a touchdown last season.

"I think when you look at our strengths, running back is one of them," Christensen said. "I think the more we get away from the ball, that's where we need to improve. Receiver is a position that we need to get better at and we have a lot of young guys competing there."

On the defensive side of the ball, the Lights also have a slew of talented players returning, none of them more prominent than Tyler Craig, who posted 71 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks in 2015. Joining Craig on the defensive line is Jordan Brusio, who was also highly productive last season, notching 53 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.

"I think the defensive line is another strength of our team," Christensen said. "We have some really talented guys up front with (Tyler Craig) and Brusio and Pat Barnett. And again on defense, we need to improve away from the ball. The cornerback position is an area that we need to improve."

While Craig and Brusio are the top players on the Northern defense, some others that should make big contributions again this season are Barnett, linebackers Tucker Dunn, Garrett Jericoff and Jesse Morales, as well as defensive backs Logan Sprouse and Alex Rodriguez. The defense will once again be under the direction of defensive coordinator Jake Eldridge.

Northern, which will open the 2016 season by hosting Rocky Mountain College at Blue Pony Stadium Aug. 27, has tentatively scheduled practices throughout the spring for Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 4 p.m., leading up the annual spring game, which will be held April 27.

"It's that time of year," Christensen said. "And we are really excited to get back on the field and get back to work."