It was a very good first day of practice for the Wildcats’ football team Monday evening in the Multipurpose Building. Wildcats Head Football Coach Greg Owens said it was one of the smoothest first days he could remember. He attributed that to good attendance at freshman football camp and some things that were done during the spring. Coach Owens said the energy level was super Monday with players flying around.
He said he was disappointed the team wasn’t able to practice outside due to mushy, wet ground. Coach Owens said he was glad to have the indoor facility to practice in. He said he was impressed with the team’s retention level of things learned during spring football.
Coach Owens said with 27 seniors, perhaps that was to be expected. He used an example of a special team punting drill. He said they went over it quickly Monday and knew what they were supposed to do. Coach Owens said the offense was sloppy and rusty in spots. He cited some off sides, bad snaps and mishandling the football in the backfield. One thing that did look sharp was throwing and catching. Quarterback Ryan Humphries had a good night hitting several long passes and receiver Simeon Taylor continued to catch everything thrown his way. Coach Owens said the offense has been throwing and catching all summer. He said he’s looking for improvement from the offensive line. Coach Owens said the defense looked really good. He said they usually do especially early and without pads on.
Players will be able to put pads on the for the first time Friday. Concerning conditioning, Coach Owens said several athletes had to take gasser tests after a two and a half hour practice Monday because they missed out on The Edge summer conditioning program. Again In in all, Coach Owens called it a really good first day.
