VALDESE 鈥 Welcome back, high school football season.
The prep gridiron is officially in business again in North Carolina as the NCHSAA鈥檚 window for official practices opened on Wednesday, with all four Burke County squads getting in on the action on a hot and humid day.
East Burke and Patton held morning practices before Draughn and Freedom hit the field in the evening as the teams try to avoid the hottest parts of the day 鈥 when state rules say practice has to be halted if the weather metrics are too high 鈥 and navigate challenges like working around day-job schedules for assistant coaches.
This year, the first official practice came on the last day of July, but it will be a mad scramble to get ready and learn playbooks before Week 1鈥檚 slate of games on Aug. 23.
The Wildcats, coached by Chris Powell, have been the county鈥檚 most successful program over the past few seasons, highlighted by a Western Highlands 1A/2A Conference championship and a run to the NCHSAA 1A West Regional finals in 2022 and another playoff appearance last fall. But the upperclassmen from those two teams have mostly graduated now, creating some challenges for coaches to replace big names but add opportunities for other players to become the next big names.
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鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited about the possibilities of this upcoming season,鈥 Powell said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of unknown. It鈥檚 nervous, but it鈥檚 also exciting because we鈥檝e seen some really good things out of some young men this summer and during spring ball.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got holes to fill, but we鈥檝e got a great senior class of leaders and great young men, not just on the football field but in the classroom and the community. We鈥檝e got a lot of great young men in juniors and sophomores who got some experience last year, especially in the latter part of the year when we got bit by the injury bug. So, we鈥檙e excited for the unknown this year and excited that it鈥檚 Day 1 and we鈥檙e getting to go again.鈥
DHS had 47 players on the field for opening practice, a respectable number for a 1A program in late July. Powell said he expects to have five or 10 more players added to that number as players return from scheduled vacations and church camps.
On the other side of the county, Freedom had solid numbers with about 70 players on the field on Wednesday evening as FHS graduate J.K. Adkins, who is making his return to his alma mater on the heels of consecutive NCHSAA 1A state championships at Mount Airy, participated in his first practice with the Patriots since 1996.
鈥淚 always love the first official day,鈥 Adkins said. 鈥淚t kind of breaks the seal for the season. We鈥檝e got a good turnout with about 70 players out here. We鈥檝e got a couple who are on vacation and should get back this weekend, so the numbers are good.
鈥淥ur job as coaches is to keep these numbers and develop them. But it feels good to be back in AV短视频 and have an opportunity to coach here at Freedom. I鈥檓 not surprised because we鈥檝e seen all these young men all summer. Maybe, collectively, not all together, but we鈥檝e been running close to 60 all summer.鈥
The county鈥檚 largest turnout, however, belonged to East Burke as 76 Cavaliers were present for the start of coach Derrick Minor鈥檚 fifth season with the program.
鈥淲e had great numbers. I think that鈥檚 the biggest thing. We鈥檝e had great numbers all summer. We had 76 out (Wednesday) and had three or four more join us (Thursday) who got their physicals and stuff like that. We鈥檝e got kids all over the place, and that鈥檚 really going to hopefully help with our depth. We ran into that last year where we just didn鈥檛 have the depth and you start having the 鈥業-word鈥 happen,鈥 Minor said, referring to injuries. 鈥淚鈥檓 really just impressed with the numbers we have showing up.
鈥淚t鈥檚 huge, especially because that allows us, if we鈥檝e 40 to 45 kids on JV, that gives us 30 to 35 varsity. If you can ever get over 30 on varsity, that really helps with depth, special teams, offense and defense. It allows you to move sophomores up if you need some guys to fill some spots and it鈥檚 not going to kill your JV program.鈥
Local coaching veteran Billy Whisenant, who played at Freedom and has spent years as an assistant coach both there and elsewhere, took in his first practice as a head coach as Patton hit the field on Wednesday morning with about 25 players present.
鈥淭he ones who showed up are basically the same group that showed up during the summer,鈥 Whisenant said. 鈥淪o, we haven鈥檛 had a lot of repeating. They鈥檝e retained what we鈥檝e worked on during the summer, which is good. It allows us to get more in depth there. We鈥檙e just low on numbers, but the ones who are here are working hard. Obviously, we鈥檙e young, but I have to focus on the ones who are here.
鈥淚t鈥檚 gone well. We鈥檙e just going through the process. It comes fast. We鈥檙e scrimmaging next Friday, so it鈥檒l be here before we know it. We鈥檙e just trying to get everything fine-tuned and working on finer points and correcting mistakes as they happen.鈥
The four local teams will have a week-and-a-half of official practices under their belts before taking part in the Burke County Jamboree on Aug. 9, hosted by East Burke at Danny Williams Field in Icard.
