Gamecocks Wrap Up Spring With Scrimmage Under The Lights - Jacksonville State University Athletics

JACKSONVILLE – A physical scrimmage closed the final practice of the Jacksonville State football team's spring schedule on Thursday night.

The Gamecocks didn't hold the traditional J-Day Spring Game, instead ending a two-hour practice with about a 90-minute situation scrimmage that allowed head coach John Grass another chance to evaluate his team at the end of an abnormal spring.

"It was a pretty physical scrimmage tonight," Grass said. "It wasn't our typical show for the crowd. It was an actual scrimmage and guys actually fighting and battling for position. I saw a lot of good effort and a lot of good things."

After the aftermath of the March 19 tornado that hit Jacksonville and JSU's campus altered the way that the Gamecocks structured practice and their daily routine. They returned to practice for two weeks before classes resumed and made the most of their presence in the community. They practiced, conditioned and watched film in the morning before spending hours cleaning campus and the community in the afternoon.

"It's hard to balance that because you try to get a little bit of football stuff in the mornings and then go out into the community and work four or five hours in the afternoon," Grass said. "I was very proud of how they handled the situation overall.

"Our guys need a pat on the back. They've done a really good job. You really don't have one in the book on how to handle a tornado hitting in the middle of spring training. But you just roll your sleeves up and you go to work, and they did everything that was expected of them and more."

That unique spring came to a close on Thursday with the 14thpractice for the Gamecocks. The NCAA allowance of 15 practices wasn't met because of the extra work the team did in the community, but the final one was one that Grass could walk away pleased from.

"I saw good competition and good effort," he said. "There are always things that you see that are really good and there are always things that you have to clean up. We have a lot that we have to work on over the summer, but overall it was just a good ending to the spring. "

The Gamecocks will open the 2018 season on August 25 in Montgomery in the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff against North Carolina A&T on ESPN. They will also play five home games at Burgess-Snow Field and a non-conference game at Kennesaw State in SunTrust Park, the home of the Atlanta Braves to close the regular season.

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