INJURIES SIDELINE KEY SE LINEMEN IN DRILLS

After four spring practice sessions, Southeast Missouri State University football coach John Mumford says he is searching for consistency -- and some healthy offensive linemen.

"We've been kind of up and down, which is pretty typical," he said. "Everybody is working really hard but we just need to get more consistency.

"It's been a little rough. We've had some injuries in the offensive line and some young offensive linemen have had to step in. They've kind of gotten baptized and hopefully it will pay off down the line."

Two offensive linemen that Mumford is really counting on haven't been able to practice much during spring drills, including Perryville High product Chris Kiefer, a senior who earned honorable-mention all-Ohio Valley Conference honors last year.

Kiefer is coming off shoulder surgery. Mumford said Kiefer appears to be fit but is being held out of workouts for precautionary reasons.

"Chris looks really good and he should be ready to go (in the fall)," said Mumford.

The other lineman, junior-college transfer David Fielder, broke his hand the first day of workouts and probably won't practice again this spring.

"It's was kind of a freak thing," Mumford said. "He hit his hand on a helmet."

Also being limited in spring drills so far has been Cape Central product Tatum Kitchen, a linebacker who suffered a broken ankle early in his freshman season last year and missed the rest of the campaign. Mumford said the ankle is still bothering Kitchen.

Another player being hampered so far is tailback K.D. Koleosho, one of the squad's top returning runners who is slowed by an achilles problem.

The injuries and inconsistency aside, however, Mumford likes what he sees, particularly out of many of the Indians' younger players who will be counted on for the 1999 season.

"We've got a lot of talented young kids in the skill positions," he said. "We just have to keep working hard."

Southeast, which began spring practice March 26, will conclude drills April 24 with an intrasquad game at Houck Stadium.