Think of spring and you think of baseball. Everywhere you turn, the National Pastime is grabbing headlines.

The Milwaukee Brewers captured the eye of the sporting world by starting their season with a 13-0 record. The Chicago Cubs’ Jaime Moyer came within three outs of a no-hitter, and 1987 marks the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.

But take a walk over to Huskie Stadium tonight, and you will find something you don’t normally see in April—college football.

The NIU Huskies take the field at 6:30 for their annual intrasquad scrimmage, a first team vs. second team affair played under the Jerry Pettibone Rules.

Pettibone said Wednesday the game is structured to give the second team a fair shake, with any points scored by the first string in the first half being awarded to the second string in the second half.

“Hopefully, at halftime, the Red will be ahead,” Pettibone said. Even if the White Team is leading by 20 points at halftime, it would still receive any Red Team points.

Pettibone said he likes splitting his team cleanly down the middle into first and second strings rather than mixing the squad into two evenly matched units.

“The Red Team will be the first team on offense and defense. Those will be the players who have earned the starting positions this spring,” Pettibone said. “We want to bring the two starting units together just like they will be in the fall.”

Pettibone said every Huskie will get a chance to play. However, there will be few exceptions to the squad-splitting, with the only major platooning going on at quarterback and defensive end.

“Marshall Taylor and Pete Genatempo will both operate at quarterback with the Red Team,” Pettibone said. “When one’s not on red they’ll go to the other side. At defensive end, we’ll have Tommy Klein and Ted Hennings sharing time on the Red Team.”

Last year’s contest was played under a full moon on a 72-degree night in DeKalb. Rodney Taylor and Antonio Davis scored first-half touchdowns for the Red Team to set up a 17-3 White Team lead at halftime.

The Red Team overcame its self-made deficit with 16 second-half points. Tim Peshek scored a pair of touchdowns and Doug Bartlett notched a safety to seal a 19-17 or a 33-3 victory, depending on how you look at it.

Many of the faces on the Red Team remain the same. The offense returns 21 lettermen and nine starters, with the only new face being freshman left guard Eric Fiene. At right halfback, senior Keith Hurley is placed ahead of 1986 starter Drake Shead.

The defensive side of the ball is where the Huskies will be rebuilding after losing seven starters in the offseason, including four defensive linemen. Leading returnees include seniors Reggie Harris at left tackle and Tony Savegnago at right inside linebacker.

When asked what the main focus of a spring game is, Pettibone mentioned creating an all-for-one atmosphere that carries over to the regular season.

“What I want is for the Red Team to play well and for the whole team to come out of the spring practice with a good feeling and to be excited about the fall,” Pettibone said. “We’ve had a good spring. We had the best scrimmage we’ve had in three years last Saturday.

“Regardless of what happens tomorrow tonight (Thursday), we’re pleased with what we’ve accomplished this spring.”