As the month comes to an end, all that’s left for CWU Football is two practices and their spring game.

Special teams and defensive backs coach Benny Boyd, who’s currently interim defensive coordinator, thinks the most important part of spring practice is about “being able to gel as a football team.”

“Every year you lose football players–good, bad, but the thing is being able to develop your identity as a football program and a football team,” Boyd said. “This 2018 team is not gonna be like any team before or after it.”

Boyd said that the team is trying to develop their identity by having their leaders step up and by having younger players step into those leadership roles as well.

“We still have a ways to go, but we’re a far cry from where we began,” Boyd said. “We’ll just keep trying to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.”

The team held a scrimmage on April 14 where head coach Ian Shoemaker focused on the team as a whole rather than on specific players.

“Mostly what we’re looking for is unit execution and guys doing their job,” Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker said the high point of the offseason has been getting back out and playing football.

“That’s the fun part for our guys,” Shoemaker said.

Comparing the scrimmage to the upcoming spring game on April 28, “both of them are gonna be opportunities for us to evaluate guys that haven’t had a chance to play much football,” Shoemaker said.

The spring game is a chance for coaches and fans to get a final look at players before the end of their spring practices. The game features starters and backups running plays just like a regular season game. The team will also run drills, and new recruits on the sideline will get a taste of what CWU Football is all about.

Last season’s starting quarterback Reilly Hennessey, who has been battling with an injury for the majority of winter and the beginning of spring, will get more reps in the spring game. He looks to capitalize on coming back to the football field and preparing for next season.

“Continuing to get better is the biggest thing,” Hennessey said.

Backup quarterback Christian Moore will be using the spring game as a chance to impress coaches and show them what he’s been working on over the last few months.

“This off-season, during the winter quarter was a lot of speed stuff with me… I’m a taller dude, kinda bigger in weight, so speed was a huge key for me,” Moore said.

Moore is also getting more comfortable with the playbook and is ready to focus more on showing his athleticism.

Shoemaker spoke about getting both players back onto the field at the end of spring.

“Reilly’s coming back and doing real well,” Shoemaker said. “They’re gonna be splitting more reps as we go.”

Spring practice also offers an opportunity for players who were redshirted last year to get a jumpstart on next season. Many academic sophomores are still considered redshirt freshmen this upcoming season. They are using this time to prepare for when they are athletically cleared to run out on the field and make a difference for CWU Football.

Boyd also touched on just how important it is to get those new players out on the field to prove themselves, and that all starts with the spring practices.

“We’re just trying to make sure that we can build some skill development… get some confidence,” Boyd said. “We got a lot of guys who have not played a lot of varsity football for us… a lot of talented guys, but unproven.”

Heading into the spring game this weekend, Boyd is ready to see how his defense improves from the last scrimmage.

“What we tell our guys on defense is ‘the beauty’s in the execution.’ What we wanna do is be able to execute the desired calls, we wanna play hard, and run to the football,” Boyd said. “I think we’re on the right path.”

You can catch CWU Football at their spring game at Tomlinson Stadium on April 28 at 1 p.m.