A great sign… Local football players and coaches get back to work
Published 1:45 pm Thursday, June 4, 2020
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders T.A. Dugger Jr. Cyclone Gavin Kodak clears a tire while getting in some work with the Jr. Cyclone team at Citizens Bank Stadium.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders A TAD Jr. Cyclone player appears to be flying through the tire drill being run by Coach Matt Fox at Citizens Bank Stadium.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cyclone rising freshman quarterback Gib Maupin stretches out his legs during running drills at the Joe LaPorte Track complex.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Senior Cyclone lineman Cole Morganstern will be one of many leaders that head coach Shawn Witten will be relying on as Elizabethton defends its state title.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Cyclone rising junior Caleb Johnson works out with the EHS linemen.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
Growing up a saying that many can relate to was ‘You have to start somewhere’.
That could not prove to be any truer than this week when for the first time since March, local football players and coaches were finally able to come together to begin preparations for the 2020 football season however it may look.
For many coaches, it was like having a ton of brick lifted off their shoulders as they can finally get back to preparing their athletes to compete at a high level more so physically and mentally than from a football standpoint as they must continue daily working to protect their athletes from the Coronavirus.
Each one admittedly will tell anyone its tough to keep a group of athletes socially distanced but that is what must happen to meet the guidelines put into place by the region that encompasses Morristown to Mountain City so football could return.
On Wednesday, the Elizabethton Cyclones took to the Joe LaPorte Track complex and spent the entirety of their workouts with running, running, and more running as athletes began to work their legs and bodies back into playing condition.
While the high school team worked on the track, the T.A. Dugger Jr. High Cyclones under head coach Brock Pittman utilized Citizen Bank Stadiums where they were branched off into small groups with a coach to work at different stations.
All-in-all, it wasn’t where the coaches or players thought they would be at this point, but none the less it looked like football, it smelled like football, and it was football to all those who were finally able to return to work as Wednesday represented the third day that teams throughout the region could return.
“I am so proud of the turnout that we have had – just the willingness to be here ready to go,” said a very hoarse Cyclone head coach Shawn Witten who said that social distancing has forced his voice to be strained from being louder so all his players can hear.
“These guys just want to be a part of something special. It just makes you feel really good as a coach that you have this bunch turn out every single day.
“I couldn’t ask for any better of a group to just really push their conditioning after being off as long as they have been. Their willingness to listen and try to complete what we have asked them to do.”
Every athlete present seemed to be at a different level in their conditioning as the returning linemen seemed to stand head and shoulders above the rest on this day.
“These first five days will kind of tell you who has been working and who hasn’t,” Witten stated. “It will test what is down inside their souls you know.
“The biggest thing right now to play football is you got to have numbers – you have to have depth, you have to have bodies. It’s going to be who can last four quarters and that kind of has been what our mindset has been. Strengthen level will return and right now it’s about getting back in shape.”
Probably more than anything for Elizabethton coming into the new season is the fact they retain the current title as the Class 4A BlueCross Bowl State Champions and with that comes added pressure to be on top of their game.
But not only is there an added pressure, but there is also a different swagger to the team as the hunger and eagerness to get better was evident among all the athletes running their legs off during conditioning drills.
“I told them the very first minute, if they expect every day to be easy, it’s not going to happen,” Witten said about defending the title. “Anyone quarter, one play, one series, one game – it’s not going to be easy.
“Preparation is going to be a lot tougher. It just doesn’t get any better than this. How can you not be motivated to try to come back and do it again and the oneness to work together to be stronger as a group?”
The one thing that Witten is very, very pleased with is the numbers that make up the team this year as there are approximately 90 kids out for football from freshmen to seniors.
“The biggest thing for us is last year we had 30 rising ninth graders and this year we have 25 so we have 55 kids that are going to be freshmen and sophomores and that’s pretty impressive,” said Witten.
“We have a lot of young guys that we have to get up to speed and they have to be here one day at a time and get better every day.”
