The football team’s new conditioning and playing program hopes to improve the team’s play this year.

“We have to change the mindset of how things used to be before [the new coaching staff] got here,” head coach Byron Nihart said. “If a player misses one practice, they have to sit out half a game. We hold the kids responsible for their actions.” After missing two practices, the player must sit out an entire game.

The tactic proved true when, after missing summer practices, thirteen players were made to sit out of the first two games.

After last year’s disapointing season, coaches decided to make practices longer and more demanding. Summer practices were held from the week of June 1 to July 30, Mondays through Thursdays from 6-8 a.m. During practice, the players focused solely on conditioning and lifting weights. The team now practices six days a week.

“Practices are also more difficult for the players,” Nihart said. The team starts off every practice with running drills in hopes that making the players tired before practice will help them focus more on the task at hand. “You can see, on the field, that we are more physically fit than last year,” said senior linebacker Jamal Griffith.

Aside from their regular district games, some underclassmen also play in Junior Varsity and “freshmen” games.

The JV games started September 19 and are played every Saturday for about five weeks.

The “freshmen” games are held every Wednesday against other district schools.

A new class for about 25 players, called PE Athletics, gives the team a whole period to lift weights and not only watch tapes of past games, but game tapes of their upcoming opponents.

To keep up with the team’s progress you can log onto maxpreps.com. The website is complete with the team record and individual player statistics.