Wildcat Football Begins with 4 Hour Practice

The first combined varsity and JV football practice ran four hours Monday evening (August 13) inside and outside the Multipurpose Building. Wildcats Football Coach Greg Owens said the first day is always a little hectic with things getting started. He said those players that took advantage of the summer program jumped right into things Monday.

The first hour of practice, from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m. occurred inside. Players lifted weights, had walk through, watched some videos and worked on technique for special teams. The team hit the practice field at 6 p.m. Coach Owens pronounced the weather as phenomenal. A lightning scare failed to materialize. The cloudy and windy conditions felt great according to Coach Owens. Around 7:30 p.m., a big black cloud appeared overhead and dumped some rain on the practice. It lasted only a few minutes and players didn’t miss a stride.

Coach Owens described players moods from excited to giddy to nervous. He said coaches just have to teach technique, get players into shape and get ready to roll into the season. Players remained on the practice field until it got too dark to see at around 8:30 p.m. The players worked another half hour inside. Coach Owens said there were about 50 varsity players present Monday. He said a couple were missing. The Wildcats have about 35 seniors. There were about 55 JV players at practice Monday with about ten missing. Freshmen numbers total just short of 60.

On the practice field, the Wildcats had one hour of offense, one hour of defense with some time for conditioning and special teams. Coach Owens said he prefers to practice on grass, especially with the weather as good as it was Monday. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t appreciate the Multipurpose Building when the heat dominates or lightning is around. The Wildcats will be able to wear pads Wednesday but they won’t be able to hit each other. They can strike sleds or padded items. Contact in pads between players can start Saturday.

Author: Staff Reporter

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