North Fort High kicks off spring football practice
After spending the last few months in the weight room and conditioning, the North Fort Myers football team finally got to put on pads and fun through some football drills when spring practice started April 27.
For four weeks, the players will themselves into football shape through drills, sprints and scrimmages in preparation for their traditional Red/White intrasquad scrimmage this weekend and untimely their spring game on May 22 at Sarasota Riverview.
Head coach Earnest Graham is pleased to see his squad bring focus and intensity to each practice.
“The kids have been going at it very hard since spring conditioning, getting up early and doing their workouts,” Graham said. “The kids have responded. We have a group that needs to become smarter and understand situations more and bring it out on the field.”
The Knights, and other schools, have been blessed with great weather for the most part since Aril 27, with just one practice delayed by lightning and the rest being tolerable with dry conditions.
After doing nothing but drills for almost two weeks, the team finally had a chance to scrimmage last Friday. The players seemed to appreciate that as they flew across the field in the most spirited session of the spring.
“Today they had a chance to scrimmage a little and get after each other to break up the monotony because we’re very learning intensive out here,” Graham said. “We got out into space today and that’s always fun.”
Last year’s squad continued its improvement with a 5-5 record following a winless season in 2012. Penalties, turnovers and other mistakes prevented them from earning a playoff berth in 2014.
Graham had some learning to do as well, adjusting to coaching high school kids and holding them accountable for mistakes they make.
Graham said he has made that adjustment and that the team is working on curtailing those on-field lapses.
“We’ve been addressing that. We want to play smarter football. There’s a lot more accountability and reinforcing of discipline,” Graham said. “We won’t commit those penalties that contributed to us getting beat.”
The next step for Graham is finding leaders on the team, people who will prod and coerce teammates into driving on when they hit a wall.
“With any team, it’s about breaking through the wall and we need to find someone in the peer group to step up. If we can find leaders on our football team we’ll do well,” Graham said.
Dean Lance, offensive and defensive lineman, could be one of those leaders on a team that returns all its starting linemen.
“It’s all about football at North. We love to play, quick, fast reps, quality over quantity every day,” Lance said. “We’re looking at an all senior offensive line and the defense is as hungry as ever.”
Jared Rusnik, who is vying to become starting quarterback for the fall season, said the team is working on execution, getting in as many high-quality reps as possible.
“We’re just trying to execute plays. We’re making sure to go through the counts and cadences so the offense is ready for what we have to do,” Rusnik said. “We’re trying to get the team to a better place, not winless like we were, and do what we can to be the best.”