Southeast Missouri State football team will hold final spring scrimmage Saturday

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tony Samuel likes what the Redhawks have accomplished during spring practice.

Samuel is looking for the Redhawks to finish strong in Saturday's noon intrasquad game at Houck Stadium that concludes spring drills. There is no admission charge.

"Things have gone well. They've worked hard. I really like this bunch. You can really see the spirit," said Samuel, who will be entering his eighth season. "We're looking forward to seeing how we wrap things up Saturday."

The spring game will again pit the offense against the defense using a scoring system that allows both units to put points on the board.

The defense had posted three straight spring game wins until the offense rallied for a 28-25 victory last year as quarterback Kyle Snyder threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Spencer Davis with 8 seconds left.

Snyder, a transfer from Ohio University, had an impressive first spring with the Redhawks before suffering a knee injury early in fall camp that caused him to miss the entire season.

Snyder is healthy now and has had another strong spring as he attempts to regain the starting position that was his until the injury.

"He's looked good. He put in as much work [on his rehab] as any player I've had," Samuel said.

Samuel looks for a competitive end to spring practice today.

"This formula seems to work well," Samuel said about the spring game scoring system. "It's usually been a good game. The kids are always competitive. They want to win."

Saturday's affair will mark Southeast's third spring scrimmage, the maximum allowed by the NCAA. Teams are permitted 15 practice sessions, including scrimmages.

Southeast lost 23 seniors, many of them among the squad's top players, from last year's squad that went 3-8 overall and a seventh-place 2-6 in the nine-team Ohio Valley Conference.