Cats, Dogs start practice
After months of workouts and 7-on-7 games, the high school football season is officially underway. Teams were able to start practicing Aug. 1, and both Andrews and Murphy high schools will participate in scrimmages Friday night before playing their first games Aug. 19.
Andrews will host Franklin in a scrimmage Friday, then travel to the Hickory Hawks for the season opener Aug. 19. Murphy will make the nearly 200-mile trip to Watauga to scrimmage the Pioneers, West Wilkes and Ashe County before opening its season with a home game against Franklin.
At Murphy, second-year head coach Joseph Watson said his team has a bit more energy than last year after having the typical break between football seasons. While every team had to deal with the quick turnaround due to playing a spring football season in 2020-21, the Bulldogs had deep playoff runs both years, and several injuries in the spring season that carried over into the fall.
This year, injured players have had a chance to heal up, and Murphy was actually able to implement a true summer workout program.
“You try to get them into shape in the summer,” Watson said. “But nothing really prepares you for physical contact and football like actually practicing and playing. I feel like they’re rejuvenated, excited to be out there and back at it.”
After graduating 11 seniors, the Bulldogs will have another large group of seniors this season. That group has already set the right tone for the season, Watson said.
“Their leadership has been really good this summer and in our first three, four days of practice have been outstanding,” he said. “That’s something we were hoping was going to happen and felt like was going to happen, and it has.”
James Phillips, who is entering his seventh season as the Wildcats’ head football, has also seen strong leadership from his senior class. He wants his team to be on “Wildcat Time,” which means 15 minutes early to everything.
In past years, Phillips had to go into the locker room to yell to his kids to be on the practice field by 6 p.m. This year, he was still in his office when he started hearing cleats heading to the field.
“The leadership has been on point and where we need it to be as a program,” he said. “Where I expect it to be.”
After returning almost all of its production from last season, expectations are high in the Andrews Valley. To make sure his team can hit the ground running, Phillips has been emphasizing conditioning so fare.
As one of the smallest schools in North Carolina that plays football, conditioning will be crucial for the Wildcats if they want to meet their goals.
“I’ve traditionally been a mix of we’re going to condition some, and we’re going to play our way into shape some, and it’s a process,” he said. “But I just feel like with this group, we just needed to be in better physical shape.
“We’re pushing the edge a little bit with our conditioning and our weight training, and they’re responding really well.”