The biggest goal for every April workout across the country is to get out of it injury free. That goal was not achieved at Lincoln's Blue and White Spring Game on Saturday --- it didn't even make it past the first play --- as junior offensive lineman Miles Wallace -went down with an apparent broken right ankle.

It certainly put a damper on the rest of the day.

"It did," said Blue Tigers first-year coach Steve Smith. "I really feel sorry for Miles, because he's put a lot of work in this year. He will have time to recover (for the season) --- we'll get him back right where he needs to be ---- but it's really hard when you put all that work in and then all of a sudden, something like this happens."

Later in the scrimmage, sophomore running Terry Hunter went out with what Smith said was a broken right arm.

"It's just like a regular game --- you have to lick your wounds and keep coming," Smith said. "We can't stop the game or we can't stop playing or cancel the season because of one or two guys."

The injuries certainly didn't help the cause for the offense, especially for a line that was already thin and depleted with injuries. As a result, this was a day dominated by defense.

"As a head coach," Smith said, "I'm happy for those guys on defense, they're playing lights out. And that's a good thing."

The struggling offense --- which did score two touchdowns --- managed just 221 total yards on 68 plays during the controlled scrimmage. There was no kicking game and drives started at the 20 of the offense except for the final 11 plays, which started at the short 20 during Red Zone drills.

The offense fumbled five times --- four of those on center/quarterback exchanges --- and lost two.

"Our quarterback play ... we couldn't adapt to what we needed to adapt to," Smith said. "We had a kid who's not a center and he'd never snapped the ball before, but if we stayed up under center and did what we were told to do and focus on technique, those problems don't happen."

Junior safety Joseph Madrigal had an interception for the defense, which had three sacks and produced 38 plays that gained three yards or less --- including a whopping total of 12 plays for negative yards

"I'm really proud of our guys," said first-year defensive coordinator Phil Pitts. "I think they've done a heck of a job adjusting to the things we've brought in and wanted to do, because we're playing a new defense with new terminology and new techniques. They've learned, they've had hiccups, they've had adversity, and they've fought through it.

"These players are extremely talented --- you can see how quick they are, how fast they are, how strong they are, how much they can fly around. They have a lot to learn football-wise, but there's so much potential."

Senior linebacker/safety Will Cotton was especially impressive, as he was seemingly around the ball on every play --- and he's not afraid of contact, either.

"I'll tell you what," Pitts said, "Will is explosive, he's a guy we're going to lean heavily on. He makes plays and the plays he's making are gigantic, they're third-down stops and sacks. He's a guy that flies around."

More than 25 percent of the offense came on one play, when sophomore quarterback Eugene Santerling threw a deep pass down the middle to senior receiver Justin Kelley, who took it 60 yards for a touchdown.

Smith was hardly doing cartwheels over Kelley's play, however.

"That was good, I was glad to see him do it," Smith said, "but he came back and missed a ball across the middle. I don't pat you on the back for making one play when you miss three.

"I want consistency and efficiency. We have to handle our business on every play, not just some plays."

The other score came during the Red Zone drills when Kimbo Ferguson darted 17 yards to paydirt on a draw play. But other than the two scoring plays, not much happened.

Take out Santerling's long pass, the three quarterbacks were just 7-of-18 for 60 yards, to go along with the four fumbles and one interception. And the running game only gained 101 yards on 48 attempts.

It wasn't a surprise to Smith, however, that the defense was the better unit.

"Most of those guys who played defense today are going to play this season," he said. "But a lot of the guys who played offense, they probably won't play during the season."

Meaning, the 32-player recruiting class of transfers and freshmen will be counted on to make an immediate impact on offense.

The new wave of players will arrive on May 31 (transfers) and July 5 (freshmen). The latter includes no less than 12 local players --- three players from Battle, two each from Helias, Rock Bridge and Moberly, and one each from Jefferson City High School, Blair Oaks and Hermann.

Here's hoping the Calvary's on the way, because Lincoln's struggles are well known and it's a sad tale, indeed --- not just in the last few years, but in the last few decades.

The Blue Tigers went 1-10 last fall, they're 11-67 this decade, and they haven't had a winning season in 45 years.

This recruiting class, however, appears to be another step in the right direction to help turn things around.

"We're going to spend a lot of time with those guys, within the eight hours we have to work with them, getting them focused and ready to play," Smith said. "Guys are not preparing themselves they way they should --- they're not accustomed to not preparing themselves --- but that's not what I do.

"We've got to get it together and get things squared away."

Lincoln running back Eriq Torrey (right) gets ready to take the handoff from Eugene Santerling during Saturday's Blue and White Spring Game at the Lincoln practice field.

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As defense dominates, injuries

put damper on LU spring game