Both Hot Springs head football coach Darrell Burnett and Fountain Lake head football coach Kenny Shelton are ready for two things when it comes to tonight's season opener at Allen Tillery Field.
A reprieve from the heat and a chance to have their players tested.
Burnett said Monday that he was grateful for the school's indoor facility because if they had tried to practice outside, "we could've only worn tops and maybe helmets, no pads, so we practiced indoor."
"If you practice indoor, you can wear anything you want to," he said. "Everybody's running across it across the state. It's why you see a lot of people moving their practice in the morning this week to avoid all that."
The Cobras do not have the ability to practice inside, so Shelton said that his players have been taking extra water breaks to help deal with the heat.
"We're outside every day," he said. "You know, we've just got to monitor and adjust. You know, (Monday) we probably had more water breaks than we've had any practice, you know, this summer and this fall so far. So I'm just trying to give as many breaks as we can with just trying to keep them focused and trying to get them accustomed to that heat. You know, a lot of these guys want to spend all summer long in the A/C playing video games, but we've got a good core group. I mean, we don't have a lot of quantity, but we do have some quality guys."
Don’t see the podcast above? Click here https://www.hotsr.com/locker-room-ep3/
Burnett said that regardless of how the teams act leading up to the game, when the whistle blows, both teams will be ready.
"They'll be pumped, man, both squads," he said. "It's one of them games where once you step out there on the field, man, and you know you look at Fountain Lake's stadium and you see all the fans -- and it's gonna be a packed house. ... The kids'll be ready for it. I think it's gonna be controlling those emotions, you know, focusing in on doing your job and, you know, being a team player. It's fun. It's fun. I like the whole setup Fountain Lake's got down there."
Shelton said that there would be no restrictions on fans at the game, so both schools are expecting a big crowd for the first varsity football game in the county.
"I'm just looking forward to the challenge, man," he said. "To me this is gonna be the first real game away from -- I know we've still got COVID, but there's no restrictions. We're, we're playing this game just like it was pre-COVID, and they've lifted the restrictions. So this should be probably one of the biggest crowds we've had since pre-COVID, and I'm hoping it's gonna be loud on both sides and just have a just a great feel, a great, great. high school football game."
With Trojans' squad that focuses on defense, Shelton said that there are plenty of things that his team will need to do to overcome that pressure. In fact, he had to step in on the Cobras' scout team Monday to help show the players what they might expect tonight.
"Trying to get ready for that vaunted defense of Hot Springs," Shelton said. "They've got a pretty good, pretty good defense up there. And just trying to simulate that, ... I had to play defensive end (Monday). ... My scout team guy, he just wasn't, he wasn't simulating anything near what we're gonna see (tonight), so I had to get out there and kind of kind of show ... the young guys that us old guys can still, we've still got little in the tank."
While Shelton is concerned about the Trojans' defense, Burnett is concerned about the Cobras' "old-school" Wing-T offense.
"Trying to get ready for a difficult offense," he said. "You know, I tell people all the time the spread offense is easy to gameplan for. Going against that old-school offense, that Wing-T, you've gotta be disciplined. You've got to be in the right spot. You've got to do everything."
Both coaches admitted that one of the biggest things they will have to deal with tonight is special teams being live. Shelton said that his kicker has been laser-focused during practice but missed multiple PATs in their scrimmage last week.
"I've got a field goal kicker that can go out there and kick a 50 yard field goal in practice, and then he misses, I think, four extra points in our scrimmage," he said. "So we spent a lot of time (Monday) kicking extra points. I said, 'We ain't kicking no 50-yard field goals today. We're kicking nothing but extra points.' So it's all all the little things."
Burnett explained that in the first part of the season, special teams is the part of the game that is often the weakest due to a lack of in-game practice.
"That's the big thing early, you know, special teams being live and you know, guys doing their assignment," he said. "You know, offense-defense, you've been doing that all year. And now you've got to incorporate that special teams phase. So, you know, it's a big challenge, man."
Kickoff tonight at Allen Tillery Field is set for 7 p.m.
Hear more from the coaches in our newest podcast episode at https://bit.ly/3sNQUtp.
