The Whitharral Panthers have been working hard during their two-a-days training camp getting prepared for the upcoming football season.
This will be Head Football Coach Jeremy Holt’s second year with the team as they get prepared for scrimmages and opening week.
The team has mostly been focused on conditioning and play calling during this year’s two-adays. As returning and new players continue to go through camp, Coach Holt feels they are excited to get started with the season.
The Panthers had an amazing season last year going 4-0 in district, beating out great teams in their district such as Amherst, Hart, Lazbuddie, and Cotton Center. Last season, the Panthers had accumulated a total record of 12-2, losing to the eventual state champions in Benjamin with a score of 76-31.
The Panthers are excited for this season as they have had more time with each other building team chemistry and getting their cardio good during their team training.
The team is expected do more damage in the area as the season approaches. Coach Holt is building this year’s team with his coaching staff in Assistant Coach Matt White as he feels the staff is more than prepared to keep the program on the right track.
The team starts early in the mornings around 7 a.m., and they don’t stop until noon as they end practice off with a lot of conditioning.
This year, Coach Holt feels that the program has been having a good turnout for the amount of students they’ve had turn up at the practices. The team just recently went full pads and had their first scrimmage this past Friday.
With a decent amount of returning talent, most of the starters they had graduated last year including team standout Shamadrick Weaver who was their workhorse last season averaging 11.4 yards a carry.
The coaches were on top of their teams wellness as well with frequent water breaks and lengthy ones at that. The coaches have stressed to the players that staying hydrated is the key to the team’s health and that they must keep drinking water before, during, and after practices.
Along with staying hydrated, the staff has emphasized staying well rested. The coaches put a lot of faith in the players getting a lot of rest outside of class and school as that will be the key to their success outside of practices.
With six-man teams preparing for their upcoming seasons, conditioning is key to staying competitive in what can become shootouts on the field. That requires physical and mental toughness on the players which Coach Holt is hoping his program can learn early in two-a-days before the regular season begins.
The stakes are high for Coach Holt, but he is very excited to take on this role for the team and his players are ready to make a splash this year such as the previous year.