Serious injury mars EWU’s first spring scrimmage
Eastern Washington University's first spring football scrimmage was cut short Saturday afternoon because of a seriouis leg injured suffered by cornerback Will Edge.
It was hard to see what happened to Edge from the sidelines, but as soon as the pile cleared away, his teammates started frantically calling for trainers while Edge was lying face down on the field in obvious pain.
You can read an early unedited version of the story that will appear in Sunday's S-R. I will update the post later this evening if I receive additional information on the severity of the injury.
It ended prematurely, however, in near silence and under a gathering cloud of concern after defensive back Will Edge suffered a serious injury to his left leg and was transported by ambulance to
“That was really a tough thing to have happen,” said EWU coach Beau Baldwin, who called off the scrimmage following the injury and then went directly to the hospital to be with Edge, a junior-to-be, who was a backup cornerback and special teams player last fall.
The gravity of Edge’s injury was not immediately known, but trainers immediately applied an air cast to his left leg while he was lying face down on the practice field.
“We’ll have to wait and see what the doctors say,”
Prior to Edge’s injury, the scrimmage played out much to
The hitting was crisp and the enthusiasm high during a situational and tightly controlled 35-play session that was dominated early by the defense and late by the offense.
Of particular interest to
Four different ball carriers combined for 40 yards on 18 carries during the abbreviated scrimmage, but the most intriguing was Taiwan Jones, who came back from an early season injury to start four games at cornerback as a freshman last fall.
Jones, a former two-way standout for
The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder quickly jumped to his feet, however, and seemed excited about getting a chance to carry the ball again.
“It feels good,” he said of his position change. “I like contact, and that’s what I as trying to prove today. I didn’t try to bounce to the outside, because I’m trying to show I can run inside, too.
“I think I made that a little clearer today.”
The other three who alternated at running back were Darrell Beaumonte, Tyler Hart and Grant Williams, who will all be sophomores next fall.
“I thought they all did well,”
Williams will probably move to fullback next fall, but he’s getting some carries this spring from the running back position.
“Right now, we’re not running much two-back, so I just want to get him in there carrying the ball and getting used to sticking in there,”
Eastern’s defensive line was brilliant in the early going and played a major role in limiting the offense to a string of three-and-outs to open the scrimmage.
“I think they’re doing a great job,”
“And then you have some younger players like (David) Miles and Renard Williams – obviously coming off very good freshman season for him last fall. And then Evan Cook is another one of our good young players who are fitting in nice up there, so I feel very strongly about our eight defensive linemen.”
The Eagles will resume spring drills next week, and will be in full pads on Wednesday, when Baldwin plans to run 20 or 30 plays in a scrimmage-like situation to make up for the time lost on Saturday.