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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Monday, August 24, 2009 10:19 AM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Ottawa University junior Rashad Tucker runs the ball Saturday during a scrimmage at Peoples Bank Field. Ottawa opens the season 7 p.m. Saturday at the First Down Classic in Platte City, Mo. against McKendree University Bearcats of Lebanon, Ill. Ottawa, which returns 15 starters from last year’s 8-2 squad, spent a majority of its 11 practices with live scrimmages.

Braves football goes full speed during practice

Game mode

By Greg Mast/Herald Sports Editor

By GREG MAST

Herald Sports Editor

There was no messing around during the first week of practice for the No. 22 ranked Ottawa University football team.

The Braves went full speed from day one as they prepared for Saturday’s opener against McKendree College, Ill., in the College Franz First Downs Classic in Platte City, Mo.

McKendree went 6-4 last year winning its final three games and returns 14 starters.

Ottawa concluded its first week of work Saturday morning with a one-hour scrimmage, something the Braves have been doing throughout the week. It was the 11th practice in six days.

“It has been a long week,” senior running back Andy Otto said. “A lot practice and a lot of meetings.”

Otto said jumping right in going 100 percent is a good thing, especially since the Braves return 15 starters from last year’s 8-2 team.

“I love it,” Otto said. “You get thrown into it right away. You do a lot of thinking on your feet.”

Senior defensive lineman Jarvis Reed said going live just helps everybody get acclimated to game speed quicker.

“We are ready to get the ball rolling,” Reed said. “We will have more depth. Everybody trusts each other.”

Ottawa coach Kent Kessinger said having the players practice in game mode helps in a lot of ways.

“Players love to play the game,” Kessinger said. “They enjoy it more.”

Kessinger said the players don’t have time to focus on their pains, just playing the game.

“It is about timing and execution,” Kessinger said. “We have a good opportunity to tweak some things in our base offense. We can throw out a play and make a tweak off it.”

Otto said going up against the Braves’ top defense all the time will only make the offense better.

“That is the best defense we will see all year,” Otto said. “They are so fast.”

Reed said the top units push each other.

“We will be ready for anything,” he said. “We will be able to adjust on the fly. The coaches have given us more freedom.”

Greg Mast can be reached at sports@ottawaherald.com.