Prep football teams begin preseason practice

By TRAVIS DOWNEY

travisd@nwfdailynews.com

FORT WALTON BEACH - Spring training has been reduced to an afterthought and summer strength and conditioning programs have reached their end.

Now, as high school football teams officially open preseason practices later today, things get serious.

"You go into the season with a little different mentality," first-year Choctawhatchee coach Greg Thomas said. "There's a little bit of added pressure on kids and coaches - it's business-like.

"You have a job to do," Thomas added. "You take it to a different level once the season starts because you are being evaluated every time you step out onto the field."

With most area schools set to open their season on Sept. 5, the next several weeks will be spent fine-tuning offensive and defensive sets, organizing and reorganizing depth charts all with an eye squarely fixated on opening night.

Every minute of every practice counts.

"You're in the final phase," Fort Walton Beach coach Mike Owens said. "You're making plans for the next three months and the regular season.

"It's critical."

At Rocky Bayou Christian School, coach John Reaves has been eagerly awaiting the dawn of preseason drills for months.

For a school just weeks away from playing its first football game ever, patience is wearing thin.

"We've had an outstanding off-season of speed and conditioning and strength training," Reaves said. "We're looking forward to putting it all together."

At Navarre, Chad Lashley is also eagerly anticipating a first of his own as the former offensive coordinator will move to the sidelines in 2008 as the Raiders' new head coach.

Having already established a quicker, more up-beat tempo over the course of the spring, Lashley expects his team to pick up where it left off in late May.

"I think the tone was set," Lashley said. "There's not a major philosophical change in our program. The tempo is a little faster than what it was. Our kids understand it now."

Most schools will open preseason camp with two to three days of two-a-day practices before cutting back to one session per day.

After a long hot summer spent working tirelessly on improving strength and conditioning, coaches throughout the area voiced an eagerness to see just how much that work pays off on the field.

"We're excited to see what kind of improvements we've made," Lashley said. "You don't really find that out until you get pads on.

"I'm interested to see what we're like with our gear on."
He's not alone.