GRAND FORKS, N.D. - With the excitement of the annual Green-White game behind them, the Fighting Sioux returned to the Alerus Center for the first of three practices in what will be the team's final week of practices this spring. It did not take long for the coaching staff to get the strong point across that there is still work to be done and things to be accomplished in these last trio of sessions.

After a spirited opening to the two-hour practice, the team settled into work mode and the intensity showed throughout.

After special teams and individual work were completed, the team went live for the last 12 plays of the session. The offense ran six third-and-two plays against the defense, then finished with six third-and-goal from the one plays.

Both sides of the ball took their turns excelling. First, it was the defense that allowed only one first down in six tries — that came on hard-nosed run by Adam Shaugabay (Warroad, Minn.), who broke several tackles to finish with close to a 10-yard scamper.  

The offense got its revenge near the goal line though, converting of four of its six tries from one-yard out. Spencer Bickel (Minot, N.D.) and Joey Bradley (Issaqua, Wash.) each had a rushing touchdown, while tight ends Brendan Mochoruk (East Grand Forks, Minn.) and Taylor Grant (Eden Prairie, Minn.) each caught touchdown passes.

Those two catches by the tight ends had to impress the newest assistant coach on the staff — Luke Schleusner. The former Sioux wideout had the most time to get acclimated to his new unit before FightingSioux.com put him in front of the cameras. He joined the staff on the same day spring drills began and hit the ground running from there.

Schleusner discussed being back in Grand Forks and the players he is working with in this last edition of the position-by-position reports. He inherited a tight ends unit that features returning starter Seth Wisthoff (Glendburn, N.D), a former quarterback in Seth Nichols (McVille, N.D.) and a trio of underclassmen. 

2011 Spring Tight Ends (2010 Stats)
15 Seth Nichols (no stats — spent first three seasons at UND as a quarterback)
44 Joe Kingery (no stats)
47 Seth Wisthoff (six receptions, 67 yards)
81 Taylor Grant (redshirted)
89 Brendan Mochoruk (no stats)

The Sioux plan to practice indoors again on Wednesday before concluding spring drills with its last scrimmage on Friday at Memorial Stadium (10 a.m.).

Of Note From Day 13

• Sophomore R.J. McGill (Phoenix, Ariz.), who led all receivers with four catches in the Green-White game, continued his strong spring. He had a nice session in one-on-one work against the defensive backs, including a catch on a perfectly thrown deep ball from Bradley.
• The special teams spent a lot of time working on kickoff returns during the practice. Dominique Hawkins (Plymouth, Minn.) and Darly Brown (Plymouth, Minn.) both took turns returning kicks.
• Bickel was stopped on one of those goalline plays on a nice tackle by Hawkins, who came in from his safety position to make a nice tackle in the backfield.