Aug. 16, 2007

EASTON, Pa. - Thursday night's practice, the second session of the day, marked the 10th day of full-team practice for the Lafayette football team. The Leopards are well into the two-a-day portion of their preseason schedule and are now just over two weeks away from their season and home opener on Sept. 1.

While a certain level of fatigue is to be expected at this point in camp, head coach Frank Tavani and his staff have made sure the team will have plenty of energy to power through its challenging regular season schedule.

"Today we went with no-pads practices for both the morning and the night sessions, so we cut back on the banging," he said. "We concentrated on the mental part, the learning, as well as conditioning. By taking the gear off, it at least saves the offensive and defensive lines from the constant hitting. Tomorrow we'll return in the afternoon with full pads, though."

As preseason camp progresses, the Leopards not only continue to show progress on the field, but are truly coming together as a team off the field, as well.

"Our senior group has really demonstrated great leadership up to this point," Tavani said. "They've come together as a team sooner than maybe they thought we did last year and that's been because of the great leadership by (captains) Kyle Sprenkle and Marcel Quarterman. They have really helped bring the team together."

The Leopards will hold an afternoon practice on Friday with another double session scheduled for Saturday.