LAURINBURG — The St. Andrews football team will host its inaugural Blue and White spring game on Saturday, as part of the university’s alumni weekend festivities.
The Knights will kick off against one another at 1 p.m. on Knights Field and second-year head coach David Harper and his coaching staff will use the game to evaluate players for certain positions and schemes the team will use during the season.
The Knights are coming off a 2-8 season while going 1-5 in the Appalachian Division of the Mid-South Conference. Reinhardt won the division with a 6-0 record followed by Bluefield in second at 4-2. University of the Cumberlands, Union and Pikeville finished in a three-way tie for third at 3-3 in divisional play. Point and St. Andrews finished at the bottom with 1-5 records.
The entirety of the Knights roster were freshmen last season, this season the team has some live-action experience and are hopeful that will result in more wins.
The Knights second season promises to be a challenging one, as they will take on four NAIA top 10 ranked teams — No. 2 Reinhardt, No. 5 Lindsey Wilson, No. 7 Georgetown and No. 10 Southeastern University.
“It’s going to be a brutal challenge with four top 10 teams on the slate. I’ve never had a schedule that difficult in my 28 years of coaching, but we are excited for the challenge,” said head coach David Harper.
St. Andrews is one of seven programs in the Appalachian Division of the Mid-South Conference including No. 2 Reinhardt, Bluefield College, University of the Cumberlands, Union College, Point University and University of Pikeville.
Lindsey Wilson and Georgetown play in the Bluegrass Division while Southeastern and Edward Waters play in the Sun Division.
St. Andrews opens the season with a road game against Edward Waters College on Aug. 25 in Jacksonville, Fla. The following week, Sept. 1, the Knights will play their home opener against Southeastern University at Knights Field.