March 30, 2000
Truman Football Begins Spring Drills On April 1
The Truman football team will begin spring practice this Saturday, April 1. Drills will take place throughout the month of April and will culminate on April 29 with the annual spring intra-squad game.
Practices will take place, beginning at 3:45 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday throughout the month of April. There will be no practice April 21-22, and practice times and days could change according to weather conditions.
The Bulldogs are scheduled to be in full pads on April 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19 and 24.
The 2000 edition of Bulldog Football has a number of promising returners who just began to make their marks on the program as freshmen and sophomores in '99. Andrew Blakley (St. Joseph, Mo./Central) was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association freshman of the year, as well as a USA Football freshman all-American after leading Truman with 71 catches for 805 yards as a true freshman. He will be joined by Kevin Collins (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) who led the Bulldogs in yards per catch with 34 for 700 yards (20.6 ypr) as a sophomore last year. Both men were chosen for all-MIAA honors following the 1999 season.
All-conference signal-caller Eric Howe (West Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling) will return for his third campaign after producing the second-best season passing in the history of the MIAA with 220 of 410 passes completed for 2,966 yards and 19 touchdowns. Howe will have a good selection of targets, but will need a young offensive line to step up its play. Sophomore center Nick Ruud (Moline, Ill.), along with junior guard Bryan Sattler (Burlington, Iowa) and senior guard Josh Raaz (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge), an all-conference pick in 1999, are the returning starters in the offensive trenches. However, several freshman and, Mike Harris , a transfer from Phoenix College could see action early, along with a number of key reserves from a year ago.
Sophomore Mike Redding (Evanston, Ill.) was second on the team in rushing (100 for 363) last year, but could be pushed for the starting role by red-shirt freshmen Wyatt Pickering (Chillicothe, Mo.) and Brian Cosmono (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South).
Defensively, senior defensive back John Naeve (Camanche, Iowa) returns after earning the Bulldogs' only first-team all-conference recognition in 1999. He led the Truman defense with 104 total tackles and tied for the team-high with four interceptions for 53 yards in returns. Senior Toko Nguyen (Quincy, Ill./Notre Dame) will also play a key role in the defensive backfield, but missed four games last year due to injury.
Senior Curt Cira (St. Louis/Vianney) is the top returner on the D-line after being named to the all-conference list as a tackle. Only one replacement will be needed on the defensive line as two other starters, seniors Jon Brooks (Moweaqua, Ill./Central A&M) and Leo Smith (Monroe City, Mo.), return to the end spots. Senior Joel Shumate (Bloomfield, Iowa/Davis County) looks to claim the only vacancy after starting five games as a tackle last year.
All three starting linebackers were lost to graduation, and a new 4-2 defensive scheme will see many new faces among the contingent. Certainly sophomores Judd Leinhard (Louisiana, Mo.) and Jake Willrich (Grimes, Iowa/Dallas Center-Grimes) will vie for starting positions after seeing action in every game a year ago, with Leinhard making four starts. Billy Bundy a transfer from Clark College could also see time early on.
On special teams, punter Austin Lepper (Ames, Iowa/Gilbert) returns after averaging 35.2 yards per kick in '99. However, a replacement will be needed at kicker, following the loss of all-conference performer Jeff Klee.
The Truman Bulldogs were 4-7 overall last year and 4-5 in the MIAA, finishing in fifth-place. Head Coach John Ware enters his sixth season as taskmaster of the Bulldogs and is 30-24 (30-15 in the MIAA) in his first stint as a collegiate head coach.
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