WORCESTER, Mass. - The Holy Cross football team is in the middle of spring practice. The Crusaders are competing hard against one another and there are one-on-one's and team competitions that keep the intensity sky high. 

Holy Cross lost a lot of starters on the defensive side of the ball from last year's squad that lost to the eventual national champion South Dakota State in the quarterfinals, so there are jobs up for grabs and so far everyone is pleased with how spring ball is going. 

"Spring ball's going awesome, there's people flying around," said cornerback Devin Haskins. "A lot of guys proving themselves, showing what they worked on in the winter offseason. They're coming out here and they're balling. So I'm very excited, it's high intensity out here."

"When you get all these guys out here competing it's high stakes," said center Christo Kelly. "There's a lot of urgency among everyone to get further than we were last year. It's really just one day at a time, that's kind of how we're taking it right now, it's how can we get better."

"That's what spring ball's about, developing this depth," said head coach Bob Chesney. "Figuring out who the next guys are that are going to step up. This is a really good football team right now, and this offensive line is as good as any out there. And just to go out there and bang heads with those guys, to have that iron sharpening iron, that's what we need."

The Crusaders' spring game is set for Saturday, April 15.