Aug. 7—The Missouri Southern football team will hold its first practice of fall camp on Saturday morning at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.
The Lions will suit up in helmets and without pads as they meet at 10:30 a.m. for the first of nine workouts before the first day of classes. The helmet-only practice is to help acclimate the players back into their workout regimen. The team will have two practices with helmets and two with shells before its first full-pads practice on Wednesday.
MSSU is heading into its first full season under head coach Atiba Bradley, who is a former all-conference linebacker for the program.
Southern, which went 2-9 in its last full MIAA campaign in 2019, was picked to finish 10th in the MIAA this season by the conference’s media and coaches polls that were released in late July during the MIAA Football Media Day in Kansas City, Mo.
The Lions take a bit of momentum into the 2021 season after claiming a suspenseful 21-20 win at Southern Nazarne in their first game under Bradley in mid-March.
The triumph featured a go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter on a 51-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jaylon Banks to sophomore wide receiver Jaedon Stoshak. Following a quick strike by SNU that trimmed the Lions’ lead to a point, Southern stopped the 2-point conversion pass and iced the win with an onside kick recovery in the game’s final seconds.
“It was a tightly contested game. Our guys showed up and were excited,” Bradley said. “Honestly, there was excitement for me being hired, but there was excitement from that win that carried us through the summer. Hopefully we can get reignited again for fall camp.”
Southern will be tasked with filling several positional holes in the upcoming season after parting ways with 14 combined starters on offense and defense. Among the key returners for Southern are all-conference performers Richard Jordan Jr. (LB), Colton Winder (LB), Keandre Bledsoe (TE) and Brian Boyd Jr. (WR).
The Lions open the 2021 season on Sept. 2 at Nebraska-Kearney.