Stopped by the practices of a couple of UNC-grads this morning, with Chris Causey at Western Guilford and Fritz Hessenthaler at Southeast Guilford…..Chris was a linebacker/DB at North Carolina and Coach Fritz was an offensive linemen/long snapper…..
It was picture day at Western Guilford, where they usually start up at 8am, but on this morning, the start time was pushed back to after 9am….
I picked out a spot under a tree, near the Guilford Primary School and watched as the players began slowly walking toward the practice field, carrying helmets, at 8:45….There was a flock of 30 or more geese on the baseball field, having their morning meal…..
A few Western players start kicking at 8:53, as more players begin to head down to the field….I feel a 9am start coming, but I may be wrong…Some kids are in black jerseys and some in white…..
At 8:58, some are kicking and some players are also passing footballs in a warmup mode…Somebody’s out there hitting golf balls on the baseball field….Most helmets are on at 9am and players start doing light drills on the bags….They are side-hopping in and out of the bags/shields…..Also running sideways, in an out of the bags and a few players are running some pass patterns, around the cones….A golf cart has come to the field with water and a group of players has started working up by a tree, but not at my tree and I am not up a tree, I am in my car….They are setting up a tent, with the water jugs underneath the tent….The geese have come walking by my car and they are on their way up the hill, headed toward Stagecoach Trail…
Whistle Blows at 9:16am and stretching begins in lines….Scattered lines, not a tight formation…..Long-term streching this is…..There are around 60-70 Western Guilford players here for the practice….
Walk and stretch…..At 9:30 they are still stretching, the whistle blows and now it is time for side-stretching…..9:35 it is kareoke and some fast sideways sliding….Pace picks up and they begin a shuffle-sideways slide….Now it is knees up hopping….Then leg-kick hopping….These guys ought to be loose, now it’s straight ahead running….Time to squat on the ground and stretch…..All kinds of stretching….Laying on the ground stretching….Now the exercises, with a few brief jacks….
Time for the WG team huddle….Then the team split up into groups and began their serious drills…..There are 3-4 groups working on various details and one group is working on nothing but kicking, with the entire extra-point kick team, working on the kick and it’s timing, with snap count, placement, hold and then the kick…..
Western should be above average this season, with linemen like the big Stadnik brothers and Tyler Stutts, runningbacks Hersell Smith and Eric Davidson and veteran QB Josh Thompson…..
The scene at Southeast Guilford, is unlike that of any other school in Guilford County…..There is construction going on everywhere at SEG….
Totally new buildings are under construction, there are buildings being renovated, there are new parking lots, new roads; there is equipment everywhere and this school is getting a major overhaul…..
Another new look is the fact that the Falcon Band is practicing on the football practice field…..The band is going through drills, just like a football team would do, with their water bottles and other necessities on hand and it sounded like the had an automated drill sergeant leading their workouts, with the 10, then 5-4-3-2-1 countdown and you are late from your water break, get back on the field now, you are late….
The sergeant said, “Get to your spots, Let’s Go”……
The football team was practicing down in the bottom and I mean, real low bottom…..Not too far from an old irrigation lake and boy, it was humid down on the “Falcon Practice Field”…….Mark White has been taking care of all the mowing at Southeast, so the fields are in very good shape, and Shawn Newton has made sure that excess weeds will not be allowed, on the SEG campus…
Down in the bottom, SEG has offense on one end and defense on the other….The “O” vs. “D” work goes on for a while and then the players grab a water break….We are at about the 10:15 time frame…..The players receive a 10-minute break and then it is back to work….
The players go into groups and begin on drills that stress technique and timing….The line works on their stance and taking the right steps off the ball on the snap count…..The line practices their steps for pass blocking….Then the line works on coming off the ball and applying kick-out blocks on the practice dummies or bags…..”Down-Set”….
It is time to drive that dummy and use your hips….”Drive the bags, Use you Hips”….Coach Fritz is a line specialist and he let his men know when they have done a good job and when they are using their feet properly…..Coach Fritz says, “Maintain the block”….”We’ve got to get our feet moving more”….”You’ve got to get better boys, you’ve got to get better”….”Way to go Big Brown”….”There you go, right there, Baker”….”There you go Mabe”…..
Coach Fritz’s 12 year-old daughter is an outstanding softball player and they just recently returned from the AAU National Championships, down in Florida, so you know the Coach is doing a good job, at home too…..
While the line is going at it down in the salt mine, there are four JV quarterbacks working on drop and pass, drop and pitch and drop and pitch or toss handoff…..
Other groups are working on offense versus defense with the focus on the defensive pass coverage with Coach Lynn Coble….There is a defensive group that is popping the sled and keying on timing, so you can pop on the snap count and react quickly….Linebackers and DB’s for the JV’s are getting used to picking up reads and where they need to be on the field, in a given situation…
Kickers and the holder have moved up to the game field and they are working on extra-points and field goals…..The main focus is the hold and the kick…..
SEG has all-around good speed and quickness and this should be a year where they look to make the playoffs…..After that, the rest is in the nest, “The Falcons’ Nest”, at Southeast Guilford High School……
That is your look for Friday and for Day Five at the high school training camps…………..
I feel that both Western and Southeast can challenge for the Metro Conference and I expect to see one or the other upset Page or Dudley. Western has the Thompson kid who could end up being the top quarterback in the area. I know you guys have been touting Summers, Heavner, Pawlowski, Adams and the like, but Thompson is as good if not better than the kids that have been getting all the press so far. The Smith kid could turn out to be a premier runningback. He has the speed and this year should be his year. Hersell has never had the chance to be the man and his time has come. Coach Causey may not be saying much to the press right now but he is as good as anybody around at having his team ready at gametime. Just look back at last years Northern Guilford-Western game. Western had Northern beat and NG had to stage a huge comeback with Allen taking over to win the game at WG. This year Western will beat Northern at Northern. Western has something that the other people don’t have and that is those big boys up front and those big boys are very fast. If you have big fast linemen you can go places. Watch for Western to beat teams that have been receiving all the attention and look for the Hornets to finish at least number three or maybe even number two in the Metro Conference. These kids have been working hard and it will pay off. Southeast Guilford can beat Smith and they should beat Grimsley and Southern Almance and the Western game could be close but I see Western taking Southeast. Southeast is a team that matches up well with Dudley because they both like to run and that will be one of my upset specials that Southeast will beat Dudley. Southeast is fast and like was stated earlier they are quick and they will beat Dudley. Southeast to beat Dudley and they will beat Grimsley and Smith and Southeast will not beat Page but I see Western having the best chance to beat Page and they will. I say Western will beat Page and Western will beat Smith and Grimsley and Southern Alamance and the Southeast-Western game will be a toss up. Western and Southeast will be right there in the mix and having seen many of these kids growing up I feel that they can be very successful teams this season at Western and Southeast and to take it one step more I say that Western will beat Southeast and remember that Western will beat Page and Southeast will beat Dudley. This should be a fun year in the Metro Conference. Western goes 5-1 and Southeast goes 4-2. They are both much better teams than they have been giving credit for being in the oreseason.
I said this a month ago Western will be the suprise team in the metro. I say third behind Page then Dudley. But I just don’t see it with southeast they run the sameplays over and over. I bet they only have five plays in their playbook. I believe SE, SA, and Grimsley wil all fight it out for seventh in the conference
Doc, you sure do have alot of time on your hands. Pleaase tell us you are a Ph.D and NOT an MD………..might wanna start pounding the pavement for more clients, really!
Western is the top Guilford County team
1Western Guilford
2Northern Guilford
3Northeast Guilford
3Southeast Guilford
4Northwest Guilford
5Eastern Guilford
6Southwest Guilford
7Southern Guilford
I am a DDS with ancestors from Sweeden and personal hygiene is imperative with our people and we love football and Western is our team.
Western Guilford is the top tean in Guilford County
1Western Guilford
2Northern Guilford
3Northeast Guilford
4Southeast Guilford
5Northwest Guilford
6Southwest Guilford
7Southern Guilford
@collins how are you putting a placing system western wasnt even on the map last year and you forgot dudley, page and, northwest. Northwest has a strong team with 15 plus returning players and without either dudley or page on there schedule. Dudley and page are just power houses but one will have to have a lost so one in first and third also you forgot about ragesdale im sure they will be up there. northern doesnt have there one man team anymore (keenan allen) so i dont see them going anywhere. hpc will probably be up there, honestly i dont see any of your teams in the top 7 except maybe northwest and northern and if so northern could be pretty low so puttin that into introspect
1 page (win over dudley)
2 northwest (upset over ragesdale)
3 dudley
4 ragesdale
5 hpc
6 northern
7 smith
I only listed the County teams. The city teams with Grimsley, Page, Smith, Dudley, Ragsdale, and High Point don’t show me anything. The county turns out the best players, ie the Holts at Eastern Guilford and the Hacketts at Southern Guilford and the Morrisses at Western Guilford.