‘We never lost hope.’ Martin finally hits football field after extended COVID-19 delay.
At the end of practice Monday morning, Arlington Martin football coach Bob Wager reminded his players of a motto the program adopted months ago.
“We are just fighting for one more day,” Wager told his team after the first day of UIL sanctioned fall drills for Class 6A and 5A programs in football, volleyball, cross country and tennis, which were pushed back a month because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Wager said the players, coaches and staff adopted that motto in June. It has served kind of a rallying cry since then.
“We never lost hope,” Wager said. “From the first three months when we were sending out character development videos, fitness workouts, and nutrition tips and holding Zoom meetings with the players, we always stayed engaged.”
The Warriors, who went 11-2 last season, returned in great physical condition. So good in fact, that Wager said physically they could play a game tomorrow.
The Warriors return 11 starters, including 4-star linebacker Morice Blackwell (Texas commit), who is ranked as the No. 9 Fort Worth area player this season, 3-star QB Zach Mundell (Army), 4-star junior Ernest Cooper IV, 3-star Placide Djungu-Sungu (Duke) and 3-star Trevell Johnson.
Luckily, for the players, their first game isn’t until Sept. 25 when Martin takes on Denton Ryan at AT&T Stadium.
“We are in tremendous physical condition,” Wager said. “That is because of our efforts during the summer. We averaged over 400 kids per day for the last three months. The three months we had prior to today, set us apart. We actually thrived physically during the pandemic.”
The biggest changes for the players happened after practice.
Instead of heading to the locker room and bonding as teammates, the players headed inside by position group.
Before entering in the locker room, players had to don masks. Once inside, they undressed, clipped all their workout clothes together, then placed the clothes in a laundry bin and left the building wearing the clothes they had worn to practice.
Wager said that some of the policies the staff employed during summer camp helped work out the bugs they might have faced today.
“The things you never think about are the things we are thinking about all the time,” Wager said. “We are thankful to be out here. I don’t want to get too deep on you, but I worry about those kids who don’t have something to look forward to at school. I’ve worried about them since March and I’m still worried about them.”
Midnight Madness
Boswell was the first 6A or 5A school to hit the field for the fall as it hosted the eighth annual Midnight Madness at Pioneer Stadium.
Coach John Abendschan said that the practice, which started at midnight Monday and lasted two hours, consisted of sophomores, juniors and seniors. The freshmen practiced in the morning.
“It worked out well. It was really a good night,” Abendschan said. “It was a test run for what home games will look like for us. We wanted to work out any kinks for the entire district. Have people practice wearing masks in the stadium and get our spacing right, so it’s not brand new to them at the first game.”
It was the first time students saw each other at the school since spring break.
“We kept reminding people to wear their mask,” Abendschan said. “It needs to be a community effort so we can get to where a mask is no longer needed. Right now, it’s about being aware of wearing a mask.”
Boswell, which moves up to 6A for the first time, suffered a large turnover with only four returners back, including one on defense, but Abendschan is excited for the potential.
“Lot of new guys, but it’s a fun group,” he said. “Going to be a learning curve. We’re not defined by the first day and we’ll keep improving. I like the potential and where we can go.”
New faces in the crowd
Football practices also began at Keller Fossil Ridge, Keller Central, Timber Creek and Colleyville Heritage on Monday and for each team, it’s a new year with a new leader at the top.
All four teams feature a new head coach — Derek Ramsey, Mike Sports, Marshall Williams and Kirk Martin, respectively.
Ramsey took over for Tony Baccarini, who spent the past 17 years at the helm at Fossil Ridge. Ramsey spent 15 years with state power Denton Guyer and helped the Wildcats win two state titles.
Sports, who has been at Central for 10 years, was promoted from defensive coordinator after Bart Helsley moved up in the district. Helsley was the only head coach in program history.
Williams enjoyed a two-year run as offensive coordinator with Southlake Carroll, which posted back-to-back 13-1 seasons. He replaced Timber Creek’s only head football coach in Kevin Golden.
Martin comes to Heritage from Syracuse. He previously led Manvel to the 2017 Class 5A Division I state title game. He replaced Joe Willis, who accepted the job at Tyler Legacy.