Washburn Rural Junior Blues
Washburn University football will hold its annual Spring Game at 6 p.m. on Friday in Yager Stadium, with a twist.
For the first time, in a change from the traditional intrasquad scrimmage, the Ichabods will scrimmage against William Jewell in Friday's free event, which will conclude spring football for the Ichabods.
Former Washburn Rural star JC Heim returns for Washburn University football after ranking second in the nation with 142 tackles in 2025. [File photo/TSN]"It's kind of rare,'' said Washburn star linebacker JC Heim, who led the MIAA and finished second in the nation with 142 tackles last fall. "It's like a joint practice, like how the NFL does it, so it should be pretty cool.''
Washburn is getting set for its second season under Zach Watkins after posting a 3-8 record last fall.
The Ichabods return a strong nucleus from last year's team while adding a big group of transfers.
"I think the transfers have done great, kind of picking up on things in spring ball,'' said the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Heim.
"It's hard coming into our defense or offense picking it up quick, but I think the transfers that we have brought in have really bought into the culture and have done well on the field.''
Heim said he feels like spring ball has been very productive for the Ichabods.
"I think overall in the spring we're starting to figure things out, now that we've had a year under our belt with the defense and the offense as well,'' Heim said. "It just seems like we've been running a lot smoother while at the same time competing.''
Second-year Washburn football coach Zach Watkins and his Ichabods will wrap up spring practice with Friday night's Spring Game. [File photo/TSN]Watkins agreed.
"This has been a big jump from year one to year two, the development, the talent level, the schemes, the culture,'' he said. "All the knowledge of how we want to run our program is so much better going into year two now than it was year one.
"The foundation's been laid. Now it's just stacking on top of that.''
William Jewell, a member of the Great Lakes Conference, also went 3-8 in 2025.
