The weather was hot and sticky. What else should we expect for the first week of fall football practice? We can always speculate that the hot, humid weather will help to get the boys in shape. But what were we doing while the teams were practicing last week. Chances are we were discussing football during our breaks at work as well as while on the job. Or maybe we were sitting at home minding the kids or watching television. All of the above activities, no doubt were in cool air-conditioned comfort, all the while saying about how the boys were probably better off getting into condition in the heat.
Bellwood-Antis got through the first week and Saturday’s scrimmage with no more than the usual bumps, scratches and bruises, although an important part of any team’s arsenal, the kicking game took a hit. Even before the football practice season was official, returning place kicker Dan Graham was injured playing soccer during the late summer. Graham set school records in 2001, with four field goals and 52 PAT kicks, but did not practice during the first week. Coach John Hayes hopes Graham, who also was looking to start at slotback on offense and cornerback on defense, will be back to practice sometime this week or at the latest, the week before the Tyrone game.
Coach Hayes was satisfied to a point with the results of Saturday’s scrimmage with Philipsburg-Osceola. “In some things we looked good,” said Hayes, “and in others, we looked terrible. It was a good first scrimmage, but showed us that we still have a long way to go before we are to the place where we want to be for the first game of the season.”
During this week, the Blue Devils will continue their three-a-days on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Practice times are 8:45-11:15 in the morning, 1:45-3:15 in the afternoon and 4:45-7:15 in the evening. On Thursday, the squad will practice in the morning and afternoon only at the same times and on Friday will go with a light run-through in the morning in preparation for the Friday night scrimmage at Clearfield at 7 p.m.
