Heat Can’t Keep The Northwestern State Demons Off The Field

NATCHITOCHES, La. -- The only afternoon practice of Northwestern State’s preseason football camp was the first one, with sweltering heat unable to diminish the fun the Demons had for more than two hours Thursday afternoon.

“It was awesome to be outside, on the pretty green grass on the practice fields early, then in Turpin Stadium,” said third-year head coach Jay Thomas. “We had a lot of fans come out to watch. We’ve got these new practice uniforms and the guys really liked them. It was really cool on a very hot day. It was fun, good to be out.”

Senior safety Chase Collins, a Natchitoches Central product, was equally pleased with the 2:15-long session which opened with a half-hour of position group work on the practice fields.

“It was a lot of fun, coming  back out here with some guys I haven’t seen all summer because they were back home working to get ready for the season. I got to be back on the field with them and get back in the groove of things,” he said. “For me personally, it was my last first day of practice, and it was pretty special.”

On the offensive side, senior tackle Pace Murphy was pleased with the retention he saw in the first practice since early April.

“It was very good. The old guys got back in the groove very quickly. We knew what we were doing so everything was clicking,” he said. “The young guys kind of knew what was going on, a lot more than I thought they might, and that was really good.”

The Demons, who shift to morning practices for the next two weeks beginning Friday at 8:30, pleased Thomas until the workout’s closing minutes.

“Everybody looks good dancing in their shorts the first day. It was really good. The guys gave a lot of effort in this heat,” he said. “We didn’t quite finish the way we started, and hopefully (Friday) morning we’ll come out and go full bore beginning to end.”

(Courtesy: NSU Sports Information)