As we start the second week of football camp, there was one thing that was much different than last year. The clock didn’t move back. Coach Franco always finds mistakes and when he does, we get a half hour extra of practice. Thankfully, we haven’t had that happen yet this year.
We have been working hard together and as the coach has been telling us over and over to focus and offensively we have been focusing.
Another difference between last year and this year, was I thought I was the King of Up Downs. It seemed like I spent more time doing up downs than I did practicing. This year, I haven’t had to do an individual up down yet.
This year I am looking at a lot more responsibility. Last year, I was a returner and played some receiver on occassion. This year, I am being counted on both on offense and defense. This is a challenge that I am looking forward to.
So far, we seem to be more together than last year. Nobody is singled out. We are working together. When someone makes a mistake, someone always picks them up. We are doing what we need to do to come together as a team.
There are some things that I need to improve on to help our team become better. As a receiver, I have to make sure I run precise routes so our quarterback has an easy read. On defense, I have to attack when they are running and play good coverage when they pass. If we read their offense right, we should do ok.
So far, this group of seniors have shown good leadership. They are helping take over practice, they are helping the sophomores learn the system. It’s their last season, and we want to do well as a team.
One key to our team is our ability to stay healthy. We are already counting on some sophomores to play right away and we can’t afford injuries. Our ability to stay healthy is one key to our season.
We have an extra reason to play hard as we have dedicated the season to Randy’s memory. I believe that it gives us more motivation to go out, play hard and do our best. All we have to do is work hard and execute and hopefully, good things will happen.
