Practice Has Players on the Run

Shrill whistles, freshly painted goal posts and neatly lined fields.

Prep football practice began anew around the county Monday and there was plenty of sweat to go around.

At Saddleback High, where Coach Jerry Witte began his 26th season, the Roadrunners got in their first wind sprints during a 9 a.m. practice. Players wore shorts, T-shirts, football cleats and strains on their faces as they ran. Not too far away, the strains from percussionists in the marching band could be heard as they worked out the kinks for the team’s Sept. 10 opener against Costa Mesa at Orange Coast College.

With few exceptions, Southern Section teams undergo conditioning drills the first three days of the week. They get their first shots at hitting tackling dummies and attacking the blocking sled Thursday, the first day that contact in full gear is allowed.

“The basic principle behind conditioning drills is to get kids in shape,” Witte said. “But, ideally they’re ready to go because three days is not long enough to get them in shape. At least you can do some agility drills and get them climatized to the weather.”

The sun peeked from behind high clouds during Monday’s practice at Saddleback, where it was a bit warmer than it has been recently. At beach-area schools, however, heavy fog and overcast greeted players early Monday. Meteorologists say that fog is most likely to continue along the coast through Thursday, while inland schools could see temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s as the week progresses.

Most teams plan two-a-day practices with the exception of Sundays, until classes begin, which makes the period leading up to the first game a test for coaches and players.

“It’s a long period, nothing to look forward to,” said Saddleback assistant coach Bob Mangram, who begins his 27th year of coaching. “But if you can get through it, it helps you mold as a team and as a staff.”

While most schools have their openers at the end of the first full week of September, the season begins earlier than usual at 7 p.m. Sept. 3 with Tustin entertaining Servite in a nonleague clash of what are expected to be two of the county’s better teams. For the last five years the pair has banged heads over the Golden West League title. But this fall Servite joins the all-parochial Serra League along with county stalwarts Mater Dei and Santa Margarita, as well as Bellflower St. John Bosco.

In a pair of Sept. 3 openers to be played in Hawaii, Edison takes on Hawaii Punahou and El Toro plays Honolulu Kamahameha.