This clash is indeed fierce and occurs many times during each Illinois State football practice. Yet it is friendly, as friendly, that is, as 6-foot-6, 325 pounds battling 6-2, 300 pounds can be.
“I think of Garrett like a big brother,” Redbird nose guard John Ridgeway (and bigger of the two) said of ISU center Garrett Hirsch. “It’s fun. We bump heads then after practice give each other hugs. Fighting my brother wouldn’t be cool.”
Ridgeway, a redshirt freshman from Bloomington High School, and Hirsch, a redshirt sophomore from Normal Community, can’t avoid each other when the ISU first team offense and defense tangle in practice.