Eric Brock figured he would have to wait until after Haskell Indian Nations University’s spring game to decide upon his quarterback.

But Marlon Dick is the clear-cut choice and will be under center during the Fightin’ Indians spring football finale today at Haskell Stadium.

Warm-ups are expected to begin at 2 p.m. with a 60-play controlled scrimmage scheduled for about 2:20 p.m.

Dick, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound red-shirt freshman from Burns, Ore., became the No. 1 signal-caller by default over Victor Ramos, another red-shirt freshman.

“It was close until Ramos twisted an ankle in a pick-up basketball game about a week ago,” HINU coach Brock said, “and Marlon started getting more reps.”

Dick and Ramos have been battling for the starting job even though Brock has an incumbent QB in Kaleb Harris. However, before drills began, Brock decided to move Harris to wide receiver.

“He’s been looking good there,” Brock said of Harris, who threw eight touchdown passes last season, but also 17 interceptions.

The move of Harris to wide receiver, Brock hopes, will help fill the hole created by the graduation of Cody Wilson, who caught 61 passes for 833 yards in 2005.

Hunter Smith, a sophomore who caught 23 passes in just five games, is also helping shore up the wide receiver position now that he’s fully recovered from a rib injury that cut his freshman season in half.

Brock is also looking for an improved running game. Basically, Harris was the Tribe’s lone rushing threat in ’05, but red-shirt freshman Bubba Willis has been impressive this spring.

“He’s been very consistent,” Brock said of Willis, a 6-0, 200-pounder from Skiatook, Okla. “He’s a hard runner and he accelerates to the hole real fast.”

Two offensive linemen – center Stephen Morgan and tackle Kelvin Starks – have had solid springs, Brock added.

On defense, two projected starters – linebacker Antonio Hayes and safety Terrill Denny – have been held out because of injuries. Hayes is still rehabbing from a knee injury that ended his ’05 season after four games.

Mario Torres, a freshman who replaced Hayes in the middle last season, wound up as the Indians’ second-leading tackler behind graduated Randy Jackson.

Brock, who coaches the defense, has a handful of other red-shirt freshmen and transfers on his spring roster.

“Basically, we’ve been injury-free,” the HINU coach said, “but we’ve limited the amount of information because we have so many new faces.”

Haskell’s opener will be at home Sept. 2 against Principia.