Elk City Football begins practices Tuesday

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Published on Tuesday, 07 August 2012 10:11

Big Elks start official workouts at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday

Tyler Palmateer
Daily Elk Citian 

The Big Elks officially take the field for the first time this season in a 6:00 p.m. Tuesday practice at Big Elk Stadium. Players will hit the training table at 7:30, then begin another practice at 8:30, which will run about an hour and a half. The team will play in helmets and shorts until August 10 — the first day of padded practices. 

Two-a-day workouts will occur in the evening hours until Monday, August 13 practices, which will be scheduled based upon weather conditions. Head coach Jason Scheck said the recent heat wave forced some area schools to ban all practices from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. during the day.

“We may go in the morning [the week of August 13] to avoid late afternoon. If it’s 115 degrees at 2:30 p.m., we’ll stay away from that,” Scheck said. 

Scheck said much of what goes on early in the season is for team-building purposes

The team plans to take a team hike this Saturday, which will be followed by a family barbecue. The next week, padded workouts begin. 

ECHS Football Notebook

ROGERS, FELLER EVEN
Neither returning starter Cole Rogers nor move-in Colin Feller made a strong enough move this past spring to be named starting quarterback for the 2012 team, Scheck said. The two are in a dead heat for the starting spot. 

“They are completely equal. Physically and mentally.” 

Rogers’ reputation speaks for himself, as he led ECHS all last season under center and has enough reps under his belt to easily qualify him for the position. It’s been the work of Feller, who moved in from Altus after last season, that has driven the competition.

“[Feller] has a great grasp of what we’re doing,” Scheck said. “He had a great spring, great summer. The team camp and 7-on-7 at Weatherford has helped him understand what’s going on.”

KICKER NEEDED
As of this week, there is no starting place kicker or field-goal kicker on the Elks’ squad. Scheck said he will take over as special teams coordinator and will try to find out in the first few days of practice who can kick the football. 

When asked if he has any inclination to seek out a soccer player for the job — one whose role was that of a kicker and nothing else — Scheck said in the past he would not consider such a plan, but now understands it’s something coaches just have to do. 

“It’s part of the job,” Scheck said of seeking out players who would be a good fit at a specialty position. “I used to not have that mentality. I used to think everyone had to do everything everyone else did.” 

NO PADS, NO PROBLEM
Just because contact is limited during practices with no pads, doesn’t mean there isn’t something to be learned, Scheck said. The first week of fall workouts is custom-made for getting schemes installed, building team unity, and seeing which players are going to put out the most work. 

“We just get offensive and defensive things in their minds,” Scheck said. “We can still accomplish a lot because we can use bags and shields. We’re looking for effort.”  

Above all, the first week is a time to nail down the basics and to cover ground that should never again be re-addressed.

“You ought to still be able to get in perfect stance without pads,” Scheck said. “There will be stuff on Friday [that players learned early in the week] that we should never have to talk about again.” 

SCRIMMAGE ON THE SCHEDULE
A few weeks ago, the Elks were still looking for a scrimmage to play in the preseason, unsure if one would be played at all. That is no longer the case as a Friday, August 24 scrimmage at Altus has been inserted into the schedule. 

No time was set for the scrimmage as of press time Tuesday. 

EAGER FRESHMAN
Scheck said the largest age group at Elk Pride this summer was the incoming freshman class. Out of about 30 kids a day, the ninth graders produced around eight athletes for the morning workouts. The head coach admitted that some may be called upon to play a role this year. 

“We have guys who bought in. We have some very skilled freshman. I’ve told them that, physically, they can handle it. But it’s the mental aspect that holds them back.”