Sunday, April 24, 2016

Wrapping up Yale's spring game

Quarterback Tre Moore prepares to take a snap during Saturday's Yale spring game at Yale Bowl


Yale quarterback Rafe Chapple scrambles for a few yards
For a few days I took a trip down memory lane as I was asked to put together a couple of advance pieces leading into Yale's spring game.

Let's start with a question I've been asked via email in the last few days as my return to providing Yale football coverage was a temporary one. I know there are people out there with concerns about the coverage of the Yale team moving forward. I believe I'd be talking out of school if I addressed them. The Register's sports editor Sean Barker (sbarker@21st-centurymedia.com) would be the best person to express those concerns and inquiries to.

As for yesterday's festivities, the injury bug continued to wreak havoc for Yale as it did during the 2015 season. Yale coach Tony Reno's main focus is getting his team as healthy as possible heading into preseason camp in August so yesterday's spring game wasn't really a spring game but more of a practice. The last 40 minutes or so featured 7 on 7 and 11 on 11 drills.

In the first set of 7 on 7 drills Tre Moore was the first quarterback out there followed by Rafe Chapple with both players getting plenty of snaps with the first team both in the 7 vs. 7 and 11 vs. 11 drills. The competition to be the starting quarterback isn't going to be determined until preseason camp and both guys had their moments on Saturday.

The best catch I saw came on a deep ball as Myles Gaines made a sweet grab. Jackson Stallings had a couple of tough catches in traffic while Ross Drwal was the busiest of the receivers as he got into the end zone a couple of times.

Nick Crowle had a sack as did Earl Chism while Daniel James had a tackle for loss with all three coming late in the 11 vs. 11 part of the festivities.

After the game/practice came to an end there was a classy ceremony with the Yale team honoring retiring Jonathan Edwards College Master Penny Laurans.

Ross Drwal scores a touchdown in Yale spring game
The best news to report is that Reno is hopeful that everybody will be cleared to practice without restriction by the time the players report for preseason camp on Aug. 17. I've been hearing plenty about the weight gained by the returning Yale players. Defensive lineman Nick Crowle estimated that the average gain was 11-12 pounds while Reno said that the Bulldogs gained about 900 pounds as a team.

With so much of the event being conducted under controlled situations, I didn't provide a score.