The Andrews and Murphy football teams returned to practice Aug. 2.
After COVID-19 scrambled the North Carolina high school sports calendar in 2020-21, sports are returning to normal schedules in 2021. That started Aug. 2, when fall sports were allowed to start practicing.
For western North Carolina, that means all eyes once again return to football. With the 2020-21 season taking place in the spring, the start of practice was a little over three months since Andrews’ season ended at Elkin in the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A state playoffs – and a little less than three months since Murphy won the 1A state championship over Northside-Pinetown.
“It’s like we never really left,” Murphy head coach Joseph Watson said. “Once we won the state championship, we started working out again.”
Watson, who takes over for legendary Bulldogs head coach David Gentry after he retired in June, said his team is working to get the offense and defense installed before scrimmaging Enka High School of Buncombe County on Friday. The Bulldogs open their season at Franklin on Aug. 20.
“I like how hard they’re working and competing right now,” Watson said of his team. “We’re doing a good job of that, and coming into the scrimmage we just want to get reps and see them against live competition.”
After last season, Andrews head coach James Phillips is just happy his kids are having a normal start to the season.
“This feels more normal for what a football season should look like,” Phillips said. “I’m happy for these kids. They got to have a normal summer, and up to this point a normal start to the football season.”
The Wildcats will scrimmage at Franklin on Friday before beginning with the season with a home game against Hickory on Aug. 20. It’s an underclassmen-heavy group for Andrews, but one Phillips think has gotten off to a good start so far.
“The biggest thing I like is we have a pretty positive group,” Phillips said. “They’re smart, the football IQ is pretty high, they’re positive, there’s not a whole lot of whining and complaining. … It’s a fun group of kids, I love ‘em to death.”