Quick Poll

Who will win tonight's GHSA State AAAAA Football Playoff game?

Blogs

Angela McRae

Tea with friends

Lorrie Lynch

Who's News

Published Wednesday, August 20, 2008 in Sports

Hawks use tough preseason to prepare for physical season

By Chris Goltermann

The Times-Herald

Some folks might have questioned Heritage head football coach Larry Harrison when he scheduled a scrimmage with two-time defending GISA state champion Thomas Jefferson following a near two-hour ride to Sparta.

Count his wife into that conversation.

"I told her who we were playing and she said, 'Are you crazy?,'" said Harrison. "Honestly, there were times after I scheduled it that I thought it might not be a great idea."

With just 17 players on the Hawks roster heading into Tuesday's scrimmage, Harrison had obvious concern about his numbers.

Having already lost one player, Evan Graybill, to a broken foot before the season that failed to heal, Heritage saw sophomore end Logan Kimball go down against Thomas Jefferson with a separated shoulder that will appear to keep him off the field for the next month.

"We're on reserve right now. (But) you can't worry about that," said Harrison of a scrimmage where the Hawks scored 24 points. "We did a lot of good things (Tuesday).

But when your only other option during practice is to use the O.C. on your scout team on offense and defense, live action is sometimes the only solution to having players understand how to execute their assignments.

Oh, and O.C. doesn't mean Offensive Coordinator. In the case of the Hawks, it means using Orange Cones.

"Setting up the cones, they're smart enough to know that that's going to be a big ole' human being there," said Harrison. "You just have to do what you can. And that's really the hardest thing. (Tuesday) they come out and they lineup and (Thomas Jefferson) is big and strong and good. That ain't a cone out there."

Scheduling three team practices/scrimmages this month may have been more than boot camp for such a small group. But trips to Arlington Christian, which is fielding 40 players in its inaugural year, and scrimmages with Mt. Vernon and Thomas Jefferson have provided the physical training needed to get ready for the rigors of a 10-game regular season.

Wednesday's practice, however, featured all of five offensive snaps, considering that the team gave up seven scores in the scrimmage.

"Offensively we moved the ball and did some nice things," said Harrison, who liked the poise of newcomer John Veal at quarterback. "He made some plays (Tuesday) that proved to me that moving him to quarterback was the best thing I ever did."

Another good sign was the number of contributors offensively. Harrison was "tickled to death" to see freshman Alex Carter reach the end zone. Senior Edward Loughlin, who kept to just kicking duties last year, also pulled in a two-point conversion having also joined the defense as a cornerback.

Instead the team, which only got back into Newnan at around midnight Wednesday morning, reviewed game film for two-hours then went over defensive assignments.

"Logan's injury had a little bit to do with that, cause it meant shifting everybody around," said Harrison. "We did a lot more watching. We just need to go back and work on the assignments and executing them to our potential."