Kenosha Day 5: Gearing up for scrimmage
KENOSHA, Wis. -- Northwestern kicked off its third two-a-day of Camp Kenosha Friday morning with a very quick 12-period practice wearing helmets only. The Wildcats' evening session will be a walkthrough only as NU gears up for its scrimmage at 3 p.m. Saturday at Tremper High School.
Here is Friday morning's Official Practice Report from NUsports.com:
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THE WEATHER: Temperatures were in the 60's Friday morning with winds gusting to 20 mph during the session. The forecast called for a 50 percent chance of rain; a good possibility evidenced by the increasingly frequent fast-moving clouds.
THE PRACTICE: Northwestern's morning practice featured eight periods of individual work and two periods each of 7-on-7 and TEAM drilling.
Friday morning's practice highlights included:
A new practice wrinkle this year is the introduction of music played over a loudspeaker near the clock during Northwestern's dynamic warmup. Today's selection was I Got A Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas.
During the two 7-on-7 passing periods, Northwestern's quarterbacks combined to go 14-of-23 while the defense compiled three pass breakups -- one each for Jordan Mabin (Northfield Center, Ohio/Nordonia), Caleb Harper (Murfreesboro, Tenn./Siegel) and Bryce McNaul (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie).
Senior Zeke Markshausen (Capron, Ill./North Boone) led the receivers during 7-on-7, making three catches on four balls thrown his direction. Superback Brendan Mitchell (Twinsburg, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy) hauled in two catches, including one where he turned up-field and beat a linebacker for a big gain.
Andrew Brewer (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) and Stephen Simmons (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University High (SLUH)) both made nice grabs on passes thrown by Mike Kafka (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita). Brewer went high for a leaping catch and Simmons caught a pass near the sideline before beating a linebacker with a scamper up the hash marks.
QUOTABLE: Head coach Pat Fitzgerald told his team after practice: "We see the effort you are putting in men and it is great. That is why we've backed it down a little bit today; it is by design. Take advantage of this time!"
NEXT UP: On Saturday, Aug. 22, the Camp Kenosha scrimmage will begin at 3 p.m. at Tremper High School.