It's a day as hallowed to its fans as pitchers and catchers reporting in baseball -- the first day of football practice in Arkansas.
Spirits are always high at the start of August camps, but none in Garland County are as high as those at Hot Springs High. The Trojans on Monday began their defense of a 5A-South championship after last year's historic season, making their first playoff appearance since 2007, claiming their first outright league title since 1988 and winning their first postseason game since 1984.
"We had a good summer, and turnout was outstanding," Hot Springs coach Chris Vereen said. "Our numbers are about the same. I really thought coming off a conference championship that we would pick up some new kids, but the ones who are here are here. We're going to have about 50 kids out, which is about average for us, and their attitudes are good."
Vereen could tell right from the start who his leaders were going to be this season, banking on his returning all-Garland County selections for most of the offseason. Those included do-everything athlete Cleo Floyd (the county's defensive player of the year), linebacker Kamar Brown and linemen Jacob McNeil and Dante Ibarra.
"They've been here all summer, and a lot of them have been to football camps around the state," Vereen said. "They've been fired up about this season, and it definitely shows out on the field. Definitely some good senior leadership out there."
Every year Vereen focuses on one issue that cost the Trojans the previous season, and this year it's conditioning. They lost a pair of one-point nonconference games in the final minutes, suffered their lone conference loss to White Hall in the final minute and fell to Beebe on a touchdown with 30 seconds left in the Class 5A quarterfinals.
"Our kids know what they're doing, but our biggest obstacle right now is we've got to get our kids into shape," Vereen said.
Playing the role of the hunter in Vereen's first five seasons, Hot Springs now enters 2015 with the unfamiliar role of the hunted.
"I've told our kids that they've got us ranked fourth in the state and second in our conference, and I told them that it doesn't matter," Vereen said. "Just look where we were last year. We were picked next-to-last and nobody thought we'd win more than a game or two, and look what happened. Some of that is good, that the kids know we have expectations, but on the other side of that coin, preseason rankings really don't mean a thing.
"But I like it. I like the expectations."
One of the teams trying to knock off the Trojans is cross-town rival Lakeside. The Rams enter camp looking to end a two-year playoff hiatus after making the postseason coach Jared McBride's first three years on the job.
"It was a good day," said McBride of his first practice. "We've had a good summer. They've been in and out all summer, but it's good to have them all together for one purpose. We've done team camps, we've done seven-on-seven, so it's good to focus back on the fundamentals and start talking about things like special teams and getting them moving around."
McBride said he expects around 65 kids out for football, increased numbers one of his mainstays after participation swooned to less than 50 prior to his arrival. Like Hot Springs, McBride has already identified his team leader in three-year starting receiver/linebacker Maurice Bradford.
"I think Mo Bradford is our leader on both sides of the football and in the locker room and in the classroom," McBride said. "He's a great one to follow, and we follow his lead most of the time. There are some other great guys like Josh Morton on the offensive line. He's a great kid and one who is the leader of our group."
During this month, Lakeside, Hot Springs' last regular-season opponent, will attempt to improve on a defense that has allowed 34 and 35 points per game the previous two years. Hot Springs' season-opening foe, Lake Hamilton, ties to solve an offense that scored a touchdown or less in three of its final four losses.
In the smaller-school ranks, Monday also began David Jordan's first season as Mountain Pine's coach. Head coaching for the first time since leading McGehee from 2005-06, Jordan attempts to snap the Red Devils' 30-game losing streak.
Area teams catch a slight break from the heat the first week, with temperatures forecasted for the mid to upper 90s but with low humidity, but the highs are supposed to go up next week, according to extended-forecast models, as teams don full pads for the first time. Most teams schedule practices either early in the morning or late in the evening to combat the heat.
Sports on 08/04/2015