With spring practice winding down, Jamestown College football coach Bud Etzold is pleased with what he's seen so far.

The Jimmies entered the offseason with significant momentum after winning five of their last six games of the 2009 season, outscoring their opponents by nearly 100 points (243-145), or about 14 touchdowns.

Each team is limited to 10 practices during spring ball and the Jimmies will wrap things up with a scrimmage Saturday morning, which is open to the public, at Rollie Greeno Field at 10 a.m.

"We're out there trashing around having fun," said Etzold, who returns a talented team with few openings in the starting lineup. "We've had some pretty good days, and some days that weren't so good, but that's kind of what you expect.

"I really look forward to each practice because we have a group of young men that work their tails off and they care about each other. We got a whole bunch of kids that are pulling on the same end of the rope together."

The Jimmies had just two seniors starting when last season ended, leaving the last three weeks for developing depth and tweaking the schemes.

For example, Etzold has mixed in more formations with tight ends and fullbacks, opposed to the 4 and 5 wide receiver packages the team used prominently last season.

"We wanted to look to see who is ready to step up and fill the spots for the guys we lost, and these practices also give us the opportunity to tinker with things a little bit," he said.

Etzold will take over play-calling duties after offensive coordinator Mark Martin joined Tom Dosch's staff at Northern State. Despite the emphasis on adding heavier packages during the spring - with tight ends and fullbacks - don't expect a major change come fall.

Why?

The Jimmies return much of their prolific offense, triggered by quarterback Mike Beehler who struggled early, but settled in nicely. The Foley, Minn., native led the DAC in passing (2,490 yards, 25 touchdowns) and total offense (275.3 ypg).

Virtually all of Beehler's top targets are back as well, including Matt Wilson (55-705, 4 TDs), Max Boe (32-615, 11 TDs), Casey Hausauer (30-387, 2 TDs) and Josh Ewalt (22-354, 5 TDs). Running backs Lance Johansen (82-381) and Matt Mitthaugen (33-196) looked good as freshman and are a year older. Clint McGovern, an all-conference performer on the offensive line graduated, but the returning group is deep and has looked good this spring.

Same story on the other side of the ball.

Defensive back Dustin Erbes, who led the team in tackles (95) and interceptions (4) is back, although he's been out this spring after having wrist surgery.

Linebackers Drew Baier, Mike Sandness and Robert Nelson return, and Etzold has been pleased with the progress of the younger players in the linebacking corps.

Tyler Wibstad anchors the defensive line, another position which has impressed this spring.

"Your main goal is to create competition. That's the crux of building a good team," Etzold said. "You might have a number of guys that are returning or have experience, but you also want to make sure they never take it for granted."

Another unique feature of the team is how many of the key players have not practiced this spring. Not for any negative reason, but several also compete in spring sports.

Boe, for example, is a key player on the Jimmie baseball team. Baier, Wilson, Mitthaugen and Johansen also play baseball.

Ewalt is one of the top multi-eventers in the NAIA for the JC track team. Nelson is the Jimmies' top thrower, and Mike Findlay is busy with the shot and discus, too.

"It's one of the things that makes this level of collegiate athletics so unique is that those guys are able to participate in multiple sports, and often times, really perform at a pretty high level in both sports," Etzold said. "The other side of it is that it opens the door for some of our younger kids to get more reps and we can continue to build our depth."

And they can do so without having to prepare for an opponent, although they're looking forward to that, too.