SPARTANBURG, SC – After a single practice on Thursday afternoon, the Wofford College football team was back with two practice sessions on Friday. It was the fourth of six scheduled two-a-day practices this fall.

The first practice began at 8:45 am in full pads. The practice lasted only an hour and a half. The team worked skelly and kickoff return, with no hitting in the practice.

In the afternoon under cloudy skies, the Terriers returned to the field at 6:00 pm. The ninety-minute practice was held in shoulder pads and helmets. The seven-on-seven period included a two-minute drill, with Justice Joslin making several catches for first downs. Special teams worked on PAT and PAT block. The offense and defense worked separately for the final twenty minutes of practice.

“We did a lot of teaching today,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “We are planning on having a pretty big scrimmage tomorrow, therefore we choked it back a bit in terms of hitting. We had an emphasis on the kicking game and worked on four phases today. Mainly we tried to tighten up on some things and get some of the guys sharper. We are going to try to push it as close as we can to a game situation tomorrow. We will do a full kicking game, and we will do more in terms of full-speed kicking game. We will play our defense, then we will play our offense and just let them play. I think if we come out of it with 100 plays and a healthy team, then we would have accomplished what we wanted to.”

The list of players held out of at least one practice on the day due to injury has been growing. This list included Jason Leventis, Keaton Thompson, Jordan Ingman, Mychael Johnson, Devin Reed, Hunter Hobson, Mitch Clark, John Starr, Johnson Richardson, Stev Davitte, Arsenio Parks and Andy Strickland. Most players will be back on the field for the scrimmage on Saturday.

Practices are held on the practice fields behind Gibbs Stadium. All practices are open to the public; however keep in mind that the schedule can change without notice. After taking the team photo on Saturday morning, the second scrimmage of the fall will take place at 7:00 pm at Gibbs Stadium.

The Terriers will open the 2008 season on Saturday, August 30 against Presbyterian at Gibbs Stadium. Tickets are available by calling the Wofford Ticket Office at 864-597-4090.