Avery County Football Day Brings Local Players Together to Open 2009 Gridiron Season

Last Saturday afternoon the turf at MacDonald Stadium received quite the workout as players representing the county’s local youth league, both local middle schools, and the Avery High School football teams took the field for Avery County Football Day to officially open the 2009 football season.

The day was designed as an opportunity for youth football players to register for the upcoming fall league, while Cranberry Middle School and Avery Middle School in addition to Avery High School held their first official practices for the upcoming regular season.

“With the Parks and Recreation taking over youth football as they have and trying to get us involved has been a wonderful thing. As the high school coach I want to be involved in Little League, as it is our future,” Avery High School head coach Darrell Brewer said following the festivities. “For the younger kids to be out on the field and to be able to watch and interact with them was a great thing. Then later getting the chance to watch the two middle schools work out was a great opportunity for us to see our future. Both those teams had some talented football players that I thought to myself “Man, we could use them!””

The weather was beautiful Saturday morning as parents brought children to sign up for youth football. Avery Parks and Recreation Director Robbie Willis was on hand to register kids wishing to participate in fall football.

By mid-afternoon, approximately 50 total students of middle school age were registered and took the field representing the Wildcats and the Panthers. Both teams went through exercises and drills, practicing for two hours on the artificial surface.

In the early evening the Avery High School squad officially opened the 2009 high school football season with its first team practice. Team chaplain Bryan Griffith led the Vikings in a devotion and prayer at midfield to open the practice, then the junior varsity and varsity players began stretching and working out. Just as the players were getting into the groove of practice, dark cloud settled overhead and a thunderstorm cut the practice short after approximately 40 minutes.

The Vikings are working to upon a 2-10 record from 2008, the team’s worst season this decade. Nevertheless the team has put forth much effort, beginning with spring practice and throughout the summer, to start the new season strong.

“I feel like we’ve had as good a spring and summer as I’ve been a part of,” Coach Brewer said. “The boys have worked hard this summer, and we’ve had good numbers here this summer working out in the weight room and running.”

Through the summer months, the Vikings have taken part in multiple 7-on-7 passing leagues to hone their skills in the defensive backfield and at the offensive skill positions.

“I think the 7-on-7s are very beneficial. One thing about them is your team is out on the field learning how to compete. Anytime you’re doing competition, I believe it makes you better,” Coach Brewer added. “As far as receivers and defensive back go, it instills in them how to run precise routes and your secondary is forced to concentrate on backpedaling correctly and turning their hips the right way in their technique.”

Next week Avery will have the chance to measure itself against a variety of teams in a pair of scrimmages. With only themselves to practice against, however, the Vikings already have a grasp on where the squad can focus on strengthening prior to the season kickoff.

“This time of year, the best things we can work on are blocking and tackling,” the coach explained. “The blocking scheme is often the last thing to come and teams can struggle early with tackling, but we’re still a few days away from being able to hit and work on those areas. Until it’s fully live, it’s hard for us to work on that.”

With only a handful of seniors on this year’s club, competition has been heated throughout the summer as players have vied for starting positions on both sides of the football.

“One thing that I really enjoyed this summer and will probably do so continuing into the season is seeing the competition in a lot of places on the team. Having such few a number of seniors has really opened the door up for players who aren’t seniors to challenge for a spot,” Coach Brewer said. “Right now we’re seeing competition at offensive line, defensive back and linebacker, pretty much across the board. That always seems to make a team better when it has that kind of competition.”

With just a couple of weeks left before opening night, Avery’s coaches and players have appeared to focus on improving itself as a team rather than preparing for the Black Knights of Robbinsville. However, Coach Brewer explained that he and his staff have designed practices and schemes that serve the dual purpose of getting their club ready for what they might encounter from its first opponent.

“We’re focusing on Avery, working on our fundamentals and on getting ourselves better. But as a coaching staff goes, we’ve been spending time working to get our team ready for Robbinsville,” the coach stated. “We haven’t mentioned Robbinsville by name to the players, but when we run our offense we’re preparing against Robbinsville’s defense. That was a decision we made all the way back in the spring, and everything we’ve been doing offensively has been working toward that first game.”

Preparations continue for the Big Red as they host a football jamboree at MacDonald Stadium on Wednesday, August 12^th. Teams at the event include nearby Mitchell High School, as well as West Caldwell, West Lincoln, Alleghany, and Happy Valley (TN). Avery will then travel two days later to nearby Cloudland High School for a jamboree on Friday, August 14^th.