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POCATELLO, Idaho- Since being named head coach at Idaho State, Mike Kramer has taken pride in helping his team and fans remember the past and the success the football program has had. One of those moves was naming the spring game the Dave Kragthorpe Classic, the head coach who helped lead the Bengals to a National championship in 1981.
“We have an excellent heritage here even though we have only had 13 winning seasons in 47 years,” Kramer said. “We have had moments of absolute brilliance and one of those came with Dave Kragthorpe leading us to a national championship.”
Kragthorpe was in attendance at Friday evening's game and helped present the Bengal Spring Awards to the team at halftime of the game. The awards are named after former ISU stars Jared Allen, Merril Hoge, Jeff Charleston, Marvin Lewis and ISU President Arthur Vailas and Associate Athletic Director Nancy Graziano.
“They were all excellent players and examples of what we want to be as Bengals,” Kramer said. “It was great to name every aspect of what we did today after someone who has had an impact on us.”
The Jared Allen Strength and Conditioning Award went to Jordan Monga, JT Albers and Tanner Davis. The Merril Hoge Most Improved Offensive Player Award went to quarterback Kevin Yost. JT Albers earned the Jeff Charleston Most Improved Defensive Player honors while center Jon Van Vliet earned the President Arthur Vailas award for academics. Phil Pleasant earned the Nancy Graziano Community Service Award.
The Marvin Lewis captain award went to Josh Hill, Braeden Clayson, AJ Storms and Basim Hudeen.
On the field, the offense shined as quarterback Kevin Yost completed 30-of-47 passes for 408 yards and four touchdowns. Luke Austin caught 10 passes for 115 yards and Rodrick Rumble caught four passes for 169 yards.
The play of the offense pleased Kramer in the final practice of spring. Overall the offense scored 38 points to the defense's 13.
“No question, Rodrick and Kevin made big plays all day. We were using every type of rush to get to them. Our pass protection has improved immensely and Kevin's understanding of our offense is where we would like it to be at the end of 15 practices.”
Defensively, Kelvin Miller, Christian Gines and Tanner Davis all had five tackles. Miler recorded and interception while Jake Rouser had two sacks and a pass deflection. Jordan Monga had three tackles, a forced fumble and a sack.
At the end of spring practice, Kramer and his staff has been pleased with the progress the team has made over 15 practices.
“I am astounded on how good we are in some spots,” Kramer said. “This team in spots has been recruited excellent by coach (John) Zamberlin and his staff. Those other spots that are not where they need to be are inactive due to injury, academics or recruiting. When those are filled up I think we will spackle in those parts and be a pretty salty team by Sept. 3."
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