Tuesday, April 19, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa-The Drake football team will hold its annual Blue & White Game on Saturday, April 23 at 1 p.m. at Drake
Stadium. The game is open to the public and there is no admission charge.
Fans in attendance will have the opportunity
to make donations to help fund the service projects the Bulldogs' players and
coaches will undertake on their trip to Africa next month. Drake's spring game
concludes the team's 15-practice spring session, and will run approximately 90
minutes. The concessions offerings include a postgame barbecue.
YOUTH
DAY: The team also will
host its fourth annual Youth Day on
Friday, April 22 from 4:30-5:30 p.m., inside the stadium, for kids in grades 2-5. This event,
introduced by Head Coach Chris Creighton when he arrived at Drake in 2008, is
designed to give area children an opportunity to visit with the Bulldogs'
players while enjoying football-related fun and games. For questions about
Drake Football Youth Day please contact Kara Kelley at (515) 271-2104.
SPRING
FOOTBALL 2011: Drake began its spring workouts March 23, practicing three days each
week since that time. The Bulldogs return 10 starters on offense and seven on
defense from a squad that in 2010 finished 7-4 overall and third in the Pioneer
Football League at 6-2. The Bulldogs narrowly missed winning the League
championship, falling only to PFL co-champions Dayton and Jacksonville, each in
the closing minutes on the road.
Eight of the Drake starters are returning
all-conference performers, including 2010 first-team LB Tyler Moorehead (Mason City, Iowa) and first-team T Evan Lawrence (Moline, Ill.). Two second-teamers,
LG Stephen Flynn and CB Michael Lahart (Chariton, Iowa) join
honorable mention selections QB Mike Piatkowski (Wheaton, Ill.), WR Drew Blackmon (Florissant, Mo.), DL John Sawhill (Jefferson, Iowa) and P Billy Janssen (Round Lake Beach, Ill.).
GLOBAL
KILIMANJARO BOWL: This year's spring practice season takes on
additional meaning, as the team will depart May 17 to travel to Tanzania to
participate in the Global Kilimanjaro
Bowl, the first American football game played on the continent of Africa.
The Bulldogs will face an all-star team from
Mexico, formed from the CONADEIP conference, on May 21, 2011. The game will be
broadcast live across the continent by ITV, the largest private television network
in Tanzania, and beamed to parts of Europe, Asia and Australia. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. local time in Tanzania, 5 a.m. (CT) in Des Moines.
The game will
be played at the 20,000-capacity Sheik Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in the city
of Arusha. This historic event also will allow Drake's student-athletes,
coaches and traveling party on a once-in-a-lifetime experience that includes a
youth orphanage service project, a football clinic, two practices with the Mexican
team and an ascent of 19,340-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro. All contributions collected
Saturday will expand the reach of the service projects taking place during the
trip.
For more
information on the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl please visit www.Kilibowl.com. Fans can follow the
progress of Drake's football student-athletes leading up to the Kili Bowl trip
through first-hand accounts posted to the team's blog at www.drakefootball.blogspot.com.
2011 SCHEDULE:
Thu., Sept.
1--at
North Dakota, 7
pm
Sat., Sept.
10--GRAND
VIEW, TBD
Sat., Sept.
17--MISSOURI
S&T, 6
pm
Sat., Sept.
24--at
Butler, 12
pm
Sat., Oct.
1--CAMPBELL, 1
pm
Sat., Oct.
8--at
Morehead St., TBD
Sat., Oct.
15--at
San Diego, TBD
Sat., Oct.
22--VALPARAISO, 1
pm
Sat., Oct.
29--at
Marist, TBD
Sat., Nov.
5--JACKSONVILLE, 1
pm
Sat., Nov.
12--DAYTON, 1
pm
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