Andrews – As players shuffled through the check-in table and spread out around the courtyard at Andrews High School on June 16, it was difficult to spot a face that didn’t have a smile plastered upon it.
Andrews senior quarterback Tucker Holloway said he’s glad to finally be back with his teammates and ready to get to work.
“It’s been really good, I’ve just been excited to see the guys,” Holloway said. “Everybody came in ready to work and we’ve been super focused. As far as this senior group, this is what we’ve been waiting on for a long time and I know that these younger guys are ready to prove themselves.”
Holloway’s enthusiastic sentiment was shared by the rest of the Andrews players, including senior lineman Aiden O’Dell.
“It was hard in the off-season to work out and it feels good to get back with the team and get back into shape,” O’Dell said.
Once Wildcats coach James Phillips finished counting the socially distanced group of players spread in front of him, he split them into two groups, with one group heading up to the practice field for drill work and the other heading to the parking lot, where racks of weights with cleaning supplies had been set up.
Phillips said that the first week of workouts was “a win” for the program, and that he’s proud of his players for their commitment.
“I think it was a win for us,” Phillips said. “I feel like the work we’ve got done this week is good, especially just being able to get back into some strength and conditioning and working a little bit of skill development without balls or contact. I’m just proud of the boys for their commitment this week.”
Phillips said that he had kept in contact with the players during the athletics dead period enacted by the state and that he knew his players were ready to work.
“I had a little pulse of how the kids were feeling,” Phillips said. “To see 50 kids (split between JV and varsity) show up on the first day, it was really exciting for us this first week.”
Getting back on the gridiron: Wildcats glad to get back to work
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