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 Maine Football Has First Full Pad Practice
April 6, 2005 ORONO, Maine - University of Maine football team had their first practice in full pads on Wednesday afternoon at Alfond Stadium. Under warm and sunny skies, the Black Bears spent the first hour working on individual position drills before going through approximately 40 plays under srimmage conditions. Several of the big plays that stood out in the practice included a ten yard run up the middle by Keien Williams (Eden, N.Y.) and a 22-yard scramble by Chris Legree (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Mike DeVito (Wellfleet, Mass.), Robert Sampson (Portland, Maine) and Matthew King (Stoughton, Mass.) had sacks for the defense. The Black Bears' offense had three scoring drives, the first capped by a 32-yard reception by Arel Gordon (Rochester, N.Y.) from Ron Whitcomb (East Rochester, N.Y.). Teron Allen (Clairton, Pa.) scored a rushing touchdown from five yards out, while tight end Craig Parcells (Short Hills, N.J.) found the endzone on a 20-yard pass from Anthony Cotrone (Valley Stream, N.Y.). "First day in pads the guys had fun playing football," said head coach Jack Cosgrove. "I saw some things that were real good in terms of skill performance. We saw some excellent tackling and some physical play. It was very encouraging and some of the younger guys got a lot of reps and by getting the reps they are getting better. We were able to get into the endzone a couple times today, which was good to see as well." Senior linebacker Jermaine Walker (Teaneck, N.J.) made several big stops on the day, including a tackle of Teron Allen for a loss in the backfield. Walker had 98 tackles last season, the most among returning players. He also had 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack and two interceptions. At linebacker, Walker will be teamed with fellow senior Justin Knox (Rome, Maine) who played in seven games last season. Junior Chris Jackson (Jersey City, N.J.) played in six games last season and junior Matthew King played in all eleven games with 43 tackles. Joining the veterans will be sophomores John Wormuth (Childs, Pa.) who played in ten games last season with 13 tackles and a sack, Travis Hitchcock (Scarborough, Maine) and Jamaal Forman (Vineland, N.J.). "The first day in pads felt good, but we have a little growing to do," said Walker. "As a linebacking corps, we have a couple veteran guys coming back, primarily in myself and Justin Knox. The young guys, like John Wormuth, are getting better every day." The team will practice on Friday, April 8 at 3:40 pm and Sunday, April 10 at 12:55 pm to complete the second week of spring practice. For more information about Maine Athletics, please visit www.GoBlackBears.com.
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