Inexperienced Jags get full-pad workout at midnight

At the stroke of midnight, an excited group of Blue Springs South football players participated in the first full-pad workout of the 2012 campaign under the lights at Larry Stewart Memorial Stadium.

“It’s a little late for us old guys,” South coach Greg Oder said, his tongue firmly in his cheek, “but the kids love it. We get some fans out to watch and everyone has a good time and we get a good workout in. I don’t really know how long we’ve been doing this, but it’s turned into a nice tradition and a great way to start our workouts where we’re in full pads.”

He paused for a moment, and added, “And at midnight, we shouldn’t have to worry about it being 103 degrees.”

When the defending state Class 6 champions aren’t working under the lights, they’re hitting the field at 5:30 a.m. to beat the scorching summer heat.

“The guys have been great about practice,” Oder said. “As hot as it’s been, we’re really making sure the guys get plenty of water breaks and we’re trying to get them off the field by 11:30 a.m. or so.”

Even the most seasoned fan will need a program to identify the players, as only three starters – all offensive linemen – return from the team that won the second football state title in school history.

“The fans will need a program and so will the coaches,” Oder joked. “We’re young this year. Last year, we had only one starter back (all-state offensive lineman Trevor Wescott), but we had a lot of kids who were junior backups the year before and they were going into their senior year as a starter.

“This year, we have a lot of juniors who didn’t get much playing time last year. We hope we have some guys come on strong and perform like the new guys did last year, but we’ve only had three practices and it’s far too early to know what to expect.”

The three returning linemen are senior tackles Kyle Burdick and Luke Weaver and center Alex McClain.

“None of those guys are what you would call vocal leaders,” Oder said, “but they lead by example. And when you’re as young as we are, it’s important to have the guys the other players can watch in practice to see how they go about their work.”

While Oder is entering his 12th year as the Jaguars head coach – he has been a member of the South football staff for all 21 years the school has been in existence – Grain Valley’s Jimmy Tucker is entering his second year as the head coach of the Eagles.

Yet he is facing a similar situation.

“We’re awfully young and inexperienced,” said Tucker, whose team was 6-5 last season. “We have two players coming back on each side of the ball and one is changing positions.”

That player is former tight end-turned-quarterback Dominick Macoubrie.

“Dom’s looked great in practice,” Tucker said. “He was our quarterback two years ago, but we had Jeramey (Maynard, who missed the previous season with an injury) back last year and he played quarterback with Dom moving over to tight end.”

“Dom looks like he hasn’t missed a beat. But we’re thin on the offensive line and really inexperienced, so we have to play smart and avoid injuries. We’ll be all right. It’s up to me and our coaches to make sure the kids know that. We have to make sure they’re positive and excited about the start of the season.”