Jackets, Warriors battle heat, put in work during first preseason session
Football season has officially arrived for local prep teams.
Calhoun and Gordon Central both opened the preseason official practice on Monday, the earliest day the Georgia High School Association allows teams to hold unpadded organized practices. The teams must complete several sessions without pads before being allowed to go in full pads starting Aug. 1.
Calhoun held their first session on Monday morning, and Gordon Central went out to the practice field on Monday night as both tried to work around the July heat.
The Jackets hit the field with a large number of players participating in the first practice, and head coach Hal Lamb said he saw some positives and negatives.
“We’ve definitely got a long way to go,” said Lamb, who is going into his 18th season leading Calhoun. “I’m encouraged by our numbers. We had close to 120 kids out here. I’m encouraged by our attendance.
“The first part of practice was good, but as we went on, we struggled a little bit on the back half. It’s hot out here, we know that, but we’ve still got to get in better shape. We’ve got to have more leadership as well.”
Calhoun is coming off a 131 season in 2015, which included their 15th straight region title before it ended in the Class AAA Final Four with a loss to Blessed Trinity. It was only the second time in the last eight seasons that the Jackets have not played for the state title.
Gordon Central began their session on Monday with their “Iron Warriors” conditioning test, which will continue throughout the week, before hitting the practice field for drills. Warriors head coach David Humphreys said he is excited to see a few more bodies out for the start of practice this season and is expecting the first week to be more about the mental side of things.
“Our numbers are up so that’s encouraging,” said Humphreys, who is headed into his fourth year as Gordon Central head coach. “We’re still missing some ninth-graders, but we’ll get them in the next week or so. We got a little bit of a break this afternoon with the clouds moving in so it wasn’t smoking hot out here, and we were able to get a little more work in.
“We’re teaching right now. We’re going back over what we’ve learned this summer, and we’re also putting in two different special teams each day. Each day is a new day now. Our whole goal is to be ready to go full blast on Monday when we put the pads on. We want to have the mental part done.”
The Warriors, who are moving to a new region and classification this year in 7AA, are trying to bounce back from a tough last few years as they’ve combined to win just two games in the last three seasons. They will play their preseason scrimmage on Aug. 12 when they host cross-county rival Sonoraville. They open the regular season on Aug. 19 with a non-region contest at Murray County. Humphreys said he hopes to continue the momentum from a good summer program with his players.
“The guys had a heck of a summer,” said Humphreys. “We did a lot of alternative training because of some renovating we had done in the weight room. So we had to do some different things than normal. But I know the kids are excited to get out here as a team and get to work. We had a good few days at camp at Habersham Central last week, and we’re coming into practice in pretty good shape and the kids ready to learn.”
For Calhoun, they will play their preseason scrimmage at home against Northwest Whitfield on Aug. 11 and follow that up with the regular-season opener on Aug. 19 at home against Douglass (Atlanta). Lamb said the goal is to get in a lot of work in a short amount of time while also taking into account the heat.
“The No. 1 thing for us is player safety,” said Lamb. “We’ve got to them conditioned to be ready on Aug. 19, which is earlier than we’ve ever opened up, but we’ve got to be smart about it. We’ve got to lean on each other and fight through it.
“We’re encouraged by what we say, but we’ve still got a ways to go.”
The Sonoraville Phoenix followed with their first practice on Tuesday morning. (For a story on their first practice, see Saturday’s Calhoun Times.) The Phoenix scrimmage at Gordon Central on Aug. 12 and open the regular season on Aug. 26 when they host Model.