Pads on, pace quickens

Murray County senior football player Mikey Palmer laid on the ground, still catching his breath from the wind sprints that had finished the Indians’ three-hour practice Wednesday morning in Chatsworth.

Palmer wasn’t wearing his helmet or shoulder pads any longer, but the fatigue made it clear that this day was different from any other this summer.

“I was excited because we were going to be in full pads, but then again I knew it was going to be really hot and really hard,” said Palmer, a returning starter on the offensive and defensive lines. “But you’ve just got to keep going the first day. It will get better.”

Wednesday was the first day GHSA football teams were allowed to practice in full pads for the 2012 preseason, and all across the Peach State, it got very real to players and coaches that the season is just weeks away. Local teams were no different, with all seven schools planning to put on at least some of the pads and most opting for full gear.

At Murray County, Palmer was among a dozen seniors getting ready for one final go-round, and he knew this day was a big one, as always.

“It’s better than just running around and doing plays over and over again without any contact,” Palmer said. “I’m just happy to be able to hit some people now.”

It wasn’t the first day of official practice for the Indians or any other area school — GHSA programs were permitted to start last Wednesday with five days of conditioning in helmets and shorts — but Wednesday was the one figuratively circled in red on the calendar.

While year-round weightlifting and agility training are now common for most high school programs, and summers are stocked with seven-on-seven competition and team and position camps, Murray County coach John Hammond still sees plenty of significance in the transition to pads.

“Now it’s tackling, blocking, the normal phases of the game that you’ve got to work on,” he said. “If you can’t block or tackle you can’t play. The players get excited, the coaches get excited.

“I’ll be honest — it’s kind of boring the first five days. It’s good to get the kids out here and work them real good on fundamentals and get in shape, but there’s nothing like hearing pads crack. It’s something you look forward to.”

At Northwest Whitfield’s practice in Tunnel Hill, running back Blake Heard turned a small gain into a big one by carrying defenders down the field, a scene that made it clear “real football” was back. The practice play ignited cheers from his teammates as if it were already a Friday night under the lights.

“It feels good,” Heard said later. “Last week was just getting us back into the swing of things. It feels good to start hitting and lowering my shoulder again.”

Bruins coach Josh Robinson agreed.

“We are all happy to finally put the pads on,” he said. “(The players) are tired of conditioning. We are doing team-oriented stuff, but they are ready to put the pads on. It is really nice to finally see some real football.”

Not every local team was on its own campus Wednesday — Dalton is at camp at Tennessee’s Tusculum College this week, while North Murray is at Tennessee Tech — but they were all planning to be busy. North Murray, working under first-year coach David Gann, planned two practice sessions on its first day in pads.

Tuesday night, Dalton coach Matt Land talked about his eagerness to move to the next phase of preseason preparation.

“I am so tired of throwing the ball around, I am about to break into hives,” he said. “You’ve played basketball on grass for 10 weeks and that is fun and great for conditioning and is stuff you can carry on into the season, but for a team like us, which is so dependent on the run and stopping the run, now we can see what kind of football team we have.”

That’s a crucial piece of knowledge for every team, and it’s particularly important for two local programs taking big steps.

Christian Heritage is preparing for its first season of GHSA football after previously playing in the Glory For Christ Football League, while Coahulla Creek will play a varsity schedule this year after fielding a junior varsity team last season, the school’s first.

Coahulla Creek senior nose guard/fullback Cordavius Tarver said coaches are making sure the Colts are ready.

“The biggest thing we have to accomplish is adjusting to the tempo of the game, and the coaches are doing that in practice, keeping everything moving all the time,” he said. “Going to varsity, there will be more tempo and things will happen a lot faster and you have to adjust.”

Christian Heritage sophomore linebacker/offensive lineman Evan Townsend said knowing what to expect helped get him ready for this year’s first day in pads. Not only is he no longer a freshman, it’s the Lions’ second season under coach Preston Poag, so there are fewer surprises.

But that didn’t make the day any less anticipated — or challenging. What was going through Townsend’s head when he woke up Wednesday morning?

“Excitement somewhat, but you know it’s going to be rough,” Townsend said. “It’s definitely going to be rough. But in the end, it’s worth it because it pays off.”

Players and coaches aren’t the only ones whose emotions stir on the day the pads go on, because it’s also a reminder to fans that they’ll soon have the chance to watch their favorite team in action again.

But it’s the players who feel it physically. For Southeast Whitfield senior running back and linebacker Michael Izaguirre, the emotional met the practical on Wednesday as he took note of his last time observing this ritual as a high school player — all the while knowing that this is the time when teams get a true look at what their offseason work was worth.

“Everything we do will be the last for me,” he said, noting a lot of time last week was spent on timing and route running. “That’s about all we can do is timing. It’s not the same because when you put pads on stuff speeds up so much.”

— Additional reporting by Daily Citizen sports writers Devin Golden and Chris Whitfield.

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Pads on, pace quickens

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