Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Start Final Week of Spring Ball
4/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 17, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern, in its final week of spring practice, held its 13th practice session early Tuesday morning at the Wildcats' outdoor Field Turf facility.
The Wildcats conducted a spirited and physical full-pad practice, which included a number of team periods, with all three quarterbacks -- C.J. Bachér (Sacramento, Calif./Jesuit), Mike Kafka (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) and Joe Mauro (Bedford, Texas/L.C. Bell) -- sharing rotations on offense.
Northwestern also ran a period of one its favorite drills, "Hamburger." Sophomore Mark Woodsum (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove), one of the Wildcats' superback candidates, was one of Tuesday's stars, remaining unbeaten this spring in the drill.
Sophomore cornerback Sherrick McManis (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) had a breakout year as a true freshman last season. With the departure of Marquice Cole, McManis is the favorite to start at cornerback alongside senior Deante Battle (Fayetteville, Ga./Starr's Mill).
After practice, McManis spoke with NUSports.com All-Access about his first spring practice as a Wildcat. He talked about how he has prepared himself to be a starter on defense, what he has learned from coaches Jerry Brown and Rayna Stewart about being a physical corner and how the mantra of the entire defense this season is, "we're entitled to the ball, too."
Click Here to watch the interview on NUSports.com All-Access.
The Wildcats hold their final spring practice Thursday morning before playing their Spring Game on Saturday.
PRACTICE NOTES:
• Northwestern's next practice is set for 7:25 a.m. on Thursday.
• After practice, head coach Pat Fitzgerald announced the addition of a new member to the Wildcat family. Wide receivers coach Kevin Johns and his wife Krista gave birth to their third son, Carter Randolph, over the weekend.
• The Wildcats have announced the format for Saturday's game. The offense and defense will play with a running clock -- four 15-minute quarters. The clock will stop in the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters. The first-team offense, which will be wearing purple jerseys, will go against the second-string defense, while the first-team defense, wearing white jerseys, will go against the second-string offense.
