Eastern Washington eager ‘to see where we are as a team’ at Red-White spring game

It’s going to be more than three months until the Eastern Washington football team reconvenes for practices this summer, so the film that comes from Friday night’s Red-White Game is going to linger for a while.

That’s one of the reasons Eagles players are eager to play well in the annual scrimmage between the team’s offense and defense. It will begin at 6 p.m. at Roos Field in Cheney, open to the public. It will also be broadcast live on SWX.

“It’s a test just to see where we are as a team,” senior quarterback Michael Wortham said during media availability on Tuesday. “It’s big to see where we are.”

It wraps up a month of practices that have given the Eagles the opportunity to install a new defense under first-year coordinator Eric Sanders, to improve their mastery of the offense under third-year coordinator Jim Chapin, and to see how the players who are in Cheney – including redshirt freshmen and newcomers – fit into their plans for the fall.

“I think the big piece in spring is continuing to build on the basics, get better at the basics, and see whether first-year and second-year or transfer (players), where they are in 14 practices, how much they can help you,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said. “We can look back after 14 practices and truly say, ‘OK, this guy can help us in this (given) situation.’ ”

While the offense returns most of its starters and its coordinator from last year’s 4-7 team, the defense has more starters to replace and also a new system to learn. Linebacker Ahmani Williams said that process has gone well.

“The nice thing about this defense is you get to take guys that are athletic and put them on the field in situations where they can win,” the redshirt junior Williams said. “So you’re starting to see a lot of guys that maybe would have been more confined in certain roles in the old defenses that are able to go out there and be athletes and make plays.”

After struggling on defense a year ago, the group sees Friday’s game as a chance to validate the work they’ve done so far this spring, Williams said.

“(With a) new defense, you want to see the guys fly around in it,” Williams said. “It’s a super good defense. I’m excited to see how it pans out.”

Overall, Best said he is pleased with the team’s progress.

“It seems like it’s flown by,” he said. “We’re never where we need to be, but at the same time we’re further along than we were in a lot of areas last year.”