Lights nearing the end of spring

For the second time this week and the 13th time this spring, the Montana State University-Northern football team was on the practice field Wednesday, as the Lights work towards the completion of spring football.

The first couple of weeks of spring football were dampened by rain and snow as the Lights adjusted to the new coaching staff directed by head coach Andrew Rolin. But the last two weeks, the weather has been picturesque and that was the case again Wednesday as MSU-N hit the field for two hours. Only this time, it was the defense, not the offense that found a way to own the day

"I think the defense has shown up the last couple of days," Rolin said. "The defense is playing with great energy and they are doing their job and that's the name of the game. That's what we talked about a lot (Wednesday). The name of the game is execution. That's how you win football games. Our defense is executing and offensively right now, we need to get better. But we will. I know the guys will step up to the plate."

While the offense finally broke out behind some impressive play from its wide receivers and running backs a week ago, in one of the last practices before the spring game, the defense dominated. In 11-on-11 drills, a number of defenders found their way into the backfield, including defensive lineman Elijah Dennison, who Rolin said is having an outstanding camp.

"Elijah has done a great job up front," Rolin said. "He is a war daddy. He shows up every day and competes and he makes plays. He is a good defensive lineman for us and he is going to be a good player for us. He is the guy that I think has shown up on film the most defensively."

Dennison and Joe Fehr, a rising sophomore from Eureka both made big plays along the defensive line Wednesday. After going head-to-head with offense vs defense in 11-on-11, coach Rolin set up a two-minute drill. The offense got the ball at its own 35-yard line, hypothetically down by three points, with two minutes left.

Tommy Wilson was playing quarterback for the Lights and and advanced the ball near midfield with completions to Fotios Jordanoglou and Bryce Bumgardner. That got the Lights offense a fresh set of downs, but after an incompletion, Fehr notched a sack. Then, on a screen pass to Jett Robertson on fourth down, Dennison made a great read and blew up to the play, giving the defense the stop and a win in the competitive drill.

"We have a lot of good, young players stepping up for us," Rolin said. "Especially on defense, we have a lot of young guys that have really made some strides this spring, so that's exciting to see."

Yet, the defense wasn't done making big plays. Following the two-minute drill, the Lights went to 7-on-7 to close out practice and in that drill, the secondary intercepted two passes, picking off both Wilson and Bryce Missey. Quarterback Dylan Cook had one of the few brights spots for the offense, hitting Jordanoglou on a 50-yard touchdown on what was the best play of practice for the offense.

The Lights will be back on the practice field Friday before closing out spring football with the Northern spring game Saturday at the MSU-N practice field. The spring game starts at noon.