Weather doesn't darken Lights' first day

It was anything but a perfect spring day when the Montana State University-Northern football team took to the practice field for the first time Tuesday afternoon. But, despite the windy, cold conditions, the Lights got to work.

“It was great weather out there,” Northern head coach Aaron Christensen joked after practice. “I think last year we had rain. But it’s always good to get back on the field.”

On the first day of spring practice, around 70 MSU-N players took the field for close to two hours. And in that time, the Lights focused on individual drills at the start of practice before moving into team sessions for offense, defense and special teams.

“One thing that we need to get better at is special teams,” Christensen said. “We really want to improve in that area and so that is something we are really trying to focus on right now and really make it a priority.”

While special teams was a big focus, the offense and the defense went at each other in some limited 11-on-11 action near the end of practice. There was a lot of substituting and rotating on both sides of the ball as the Lights try to build the depth that they lacked last season.

“Last year, if we had guys that were underperforming, we didn’t have a lot of guys to replace them,” Christensen said. “Now, if we have someone that isn’t playing well, I think we have guys that we can put in there to replace them. We didn’t have that depth last year, so we feel much better about that.”

Returning starter Jess Krahn took the majority of the first-team reps at quarterback, with sophomore Holden Maki also getting some opportunities. And even though the weather wasn’t ideal for passing, both quarterbacks were able to complete some passes down the field. Of all the pass-catchers, no one stood out more than sophomore tight end Kagen Khamaneh, who made a couple of nice grabs on the day.

Yet, as usual, the most impressive part of the Northern offense was the running game. Both Zach McKinley and Mario Gabbato took most of the reps for the Lights and each player was able to rip off some explosive runs against the Northern defense.

However, for the most part, the Lights’ defense won the day. Tyler Craig notched a sack and led a defensive line that seemed to be constantly pressuring the quarterback. The Lights also held up well against the run and even forced a pair of fumbles and notched a couple of interceptions.

“I think right now we are just trying to focus on the little things,” Christensen said. “We are just trying to execute all the little things on offense. And when it comes to the defense, our biggest focus is limiting the big plays”

Weather permitting, the Lights will be back on the practice field Thursday at 4 p.m., and also Friday morning. Northern will practice every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday leading up to the spring game on April 27.

“It was a good first day,” Christensen said. “Guys were excited and they were working hard. We obviously had mistakes and things that we need to work on, but now is the time for us to focus on that stuff.”

The Lights open their season Aug. 27 at home against Rocky Mountain College.