The oppressive heat was the story of the day on Saturday as area high school teams
conducted their first official football practices. Still, none of the Rowan County head coaches was at all hot under
the collar about the first day of activity.
Responses ranged from
“pleased” to “ecstatic.”
Much of the ecstacy emanated from
the southern end of the county where coach Rick Vanhoy’s Raiders had an extraordinary
turnout.
Ninety-four kids showed up
Saturday at 8 p.m. Quite a contrast to last season when Vanhoy welcomed only 68 prospects
on opening day.
“And we’ll be over 100
on Monday, I’m sure,” said Vanhoy. “This is just a great turnout.”
The big number of bodies should
allow the Raiders to two-platoon. There is talent, not just numbers.
“All of our coaches thought
our first practice went really well,” said Vanhoy.
All of last year’s Raider
coaches are back, which is a major positive. There is also one new coach on board —
outside linebacker coach Jason Rollins.
The Raiders worked out from 8-10
a.m.
“We’re glad we went
early,” said Vanhoy. “It was hot by 9.”
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SALISBURY: The Hornets, with new
head coach Raymond Daugherty at the helm, went even earlier, getting a snappy one-hour
practice under way at 8:30.
Daugherty welcomed 57 prospects
and hopes to pick up another dozen or so freshmen on Monday.
The Hornets had to dress in the
dark because of power failures caused by Friday night’s storm, but the optimistic
Hornets took things in stride.
“We were pleased with the
enthusiasm today and with the enthusiasm in the minicamp we had earlier this week,”
said Daugherty.
The Hornets will have virtually
the same defensive coaching staff as last year, but will have a new look on offense.
Newcomers Matt Murphy (running
backs), Robert Shipp (offensive line) and Kenneth Bates (receivers) will give
Daugherty’s offensive coaching staff a youthful look. Bates is a former North Rowan
product.
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NORTH ROWAN: Coach Roger Secreast
is clearly excited about the coming season.
“We’ve got a good
bunch,” he said. “We’re excited. We’ve got the most speed at wideout
we’ve ever had here.”
Coaching those wideouts will be
Gary Atwell, the softball and girls basketball coach, who returns to football after a
hiatus of several years.
Most of the North coaching staff
returns, with the notable exception of defensive mastermind Robert Steele.
Chris Sifford is the new defensive
coordinator, while Brian Mills takes over the linebackers and Mike White commands the
defensive line.
Sifford won opening day’s
award for “best fashion statement” with his double-wide sombrero.
Sixty-one Cavs reported for a
steamy 5 p.m. practice.
Secreast expects up to 27 more
players on Monday. Most of the missing were freshmen.
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WESTROWAN: The most improved team
in the county might be coach Scott Young’s Falcons.
Young was satisfied with his
80-player turnout.
“There were some
surprises,’’ he said of opening day. “Some pleasant, some not so pleasant.
We saw some upperclassmen out that we haven’t seen all summer.”
West practiced from 9:30 a.m.
until noon with a revamped braintrust that includes Chris Cauble (defensive ends), Dave
Hunt (linebackers and defensive coordinator), Chad Correll (receivers) and John Russ
(volunteer assistant).
“It was hot; we had to water
’em down plenty,” said Young. “But things went real well.”
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EASTROWAN: Coach Jeff Safrit
welcomed 77 potential Mustangs, and expects at least 14 more on Monday.
“We’ve got a few on
vacation, the usual family stuff,” said Safrit.
East practiced from 10-11:45 a.m.
“The first hour wasn’t
bad,” said Safrit. “That last 45 minutes, it got pretty warm.”
Safrit said that defensive
stalwart Blake Abernathy has mono, but the rest of his troops are healthy and ready.
New faces on Safrit’s
coaching staff include defensive coordinator Leland Peacock and C.J. Johnston, who was an
all-county star at West not long ago. Johnston will help with the O-line.
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The Post will begin its coverage
of the practices of eight area teams — Rowan, plus A.L. Brown, Davie County and North
Stanly — with a report on the North Rowan Cavaliers on Tuesday.
The Post’s annual football
edition will be published Aug. 17th. |
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