First Day of Practice...

Today is the first official day of football practice for public schools in North Carolina. Football season is finally here. I'll be attending the McDowell practice here in a few minutes. It was a very rough first season for Dave Haynie, 1-10. Word is that McDowell will not run the Single Wing last year, it obviously was not successful.

Lets hope all the kids around the area stay healthy the first couple weeks of practice considering the hot weather outside. Thank god we had that heat wave last week.

Anybody else checking out first practices? Share your thoughts on today...

 

Saw the Chargers this morning. They went about 100 strong, and the defense looked impressive just standing on the field. I know that doesn't win games, but it has to get in the head of the team on the other side. Spikes was in the middle of the field with Dwayne Maddox (could be the next great Crest LB'er) and Mike Edwards on the other side I think. That make's the Crest LB'er corp run better than 6 foot. Evan Bostic was at DE and "Tiny" Petterson was in the middle. This kid weighed 360 pounds last year and heads into the start of practice at 290. This kid has worked his tail off in the off-season and looks to have an even better year than last when he whipped every center that was put in front of him. It really showed when they ran at the end of practice. Last year he had a hard time getting through it. This year he was jumping around, clapping, and encouraging the other kids to keep to pushing. Hats off to this young man. Skip Allen, Tosh Toms, and Jeffery Thompson are returning to the Charger Secondary so they are working in a new starter back there.

The Crest O-Line is huge. Adam Giles is the loan starter, but Phillip Auguste is a load, and Tyrece Williams stands 6'4" 335 and could dominate from his tackle spot. Jordan Robinson was dealing from the QB spot, and it looks like the WR'ing corp may the deepest on the team. Brandon Miller and Donald Clark were alternating time at RB.

Good first day for the Chargers.

 

I'm almost ashamed to talk about the turnout at McDowell's first practice yesterday after reading about the first day at Crest.

We had about 62 come out for JV and Varsity combined, I would say about 30 of those will end up varsity depending on how many kids might quit here in the first week or two of practice.

I think the key to this year is that these kids don't quit on Haynie. Granted, the Single Wing offense was a bad idea (we didn't have the talent to perform the offense) but after losing some close games to Hendersonville and Watauga, those kids were ready to go home come the heart of the conference schedule. 1-10 last year was not fun to go through, I got to believe for the kids coming back from last year, that there will be a serious effort to turn things around this year. From what I hear, McDowell may have three Sophmores starting in key positions (QB, TE, Flanker) to go along with Davon Gardner at running back. If we can get an O'Line to block some, we may have something in the works.

 

According to Coach Kirby, Crest ended up having about 130 total (around 70 varsity and 60 JV) on day 1, including the kids that couldn't go because of injury. No doubt that it will thin out as practice really cranks up.

It has to be tough at a place like McDowell to get it going, but the kids with the dedication to keep fighting are the ones that can help turn a program. Get those kids in the weight room, put the biggest, strongest kids on the o-line, see if you have a kid about 240 that can play full-back, find a big kid that can keep his hands on the ball, and start smashing. I hope that McDowell can get it going. It was always a nice place to visit when Crest was in the NW4A.

 

stopped by Ragsdale's practice today - there were easy over 120 kids out there bustin' ass in pads.

The demise of the Ragsdale Tigers is greatly overstated to hear some of the talk - no more Toney Baker but there was a great mix of size, athletes and speed out there. Lots of big kids on the JV which bodes well for the lines of the future.

Coach Norwood is putting in a whole new offense. No more Baker for 300 yards and 5 TDs a game - the production will be spread all over the field now.

and remember the name Chris Carter - senior linebacker that transferred in from Page late last season - on offense as a fullback and middle linebacker on defense - he is going to hurt some people this year.

 

To Haynie's defense, there was no off-season training last year because he wasn't hired until the first week in June. From what I am hearing, that was a different story this summer. Size is something that McDowell dosen't have much of, but with these kids that did hit the weight room this summer, maybe it will make a difference this upcoming season.

 

That's good to hear.

 

Bigdan, who are the 3??? Is the Kincaid kid one of the 3 that you are talking about?? By the way, a fourth will probably be the starting center (Brandon Davis). By the way, I'm out of the loop big time.......

 

South Caldwell had around 100 out on the first day. Look to have some good speed and size. The line should be very good on both sides of the ball and should be OK in the secondary. Question marks for this year will be the skills positions, particularlly QB. Lost starting tailback, fullback and QB to graduation last year. The running back positions should be alright if the can find someone to throw and catch the ball SC could have a pretty good year

 

Yeah, Terrence Kincaid is one of the three. He will be at the flanker/WR position. He will also be a backup to Davon if anything happens. "Buggy" as he likes to be called may be the most athletic kid out there on the field. Mathes will be back this year, word is that his has improved greatly catching the ball. He will likely be the Tight End. Finally, there's another Swepson kid coming through the ranks at McDowell, he looks to be the early favorite at QB. This kid from what I saw at first practice is a bit taller than previous McDowell QB's this kid outta be able to at least be able to see over his O'Line.

Of course, quite a few of these kids are gonna have to play on both sides of the ball once again this season. But the fact that we got some young guys out there playing skill positions, you can't help but to feel optimistic about what may happen this year and in future years.