Members of the Columbus North football team take the field for the first official practice of the season at Columbus North High School, Monday, July 31, 2023.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
They’ve been lifting and conditining since January, and they’ve been doing football-specific practices for most of the summer.
So when football teams across the state began official practice for the 2023 season on Monday, it wasn’t anything players at Columbus North or Columbus East hadn’t been through.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff installed already, and really today is just kind of starting to review and trying to fine tune to figure out what we’re good at and be able to focus in on those things,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “But really, we’ve been able to be in helmets and shoulder pads some this summer and been able to go scrimmage other teams, so with the rules changes now with us being allowed to put on pads during the summertime, that first-day excitement is really kind of gone now because of that.”
The Bull Dogs were on the practice field for less than an hour. They spent about an hour-and-a-half prior to that in a meeting.
“Today was more of a mental preparation day,” North coach Logan Haston said. “We spent a lot more time in the classroom just reviewing some team culture and expectations. We’ve been able to make a lot of progress with our summer workouts. We’ve been able to get on the field and do some of our install, but also be able to lift and so some speed and agility stuff. So we’re pretty pleased with where we are right now.”
The Bull Dogs did some special teams work on Monday, and will go heavier on offense and defense today.
“We hit special teams pretty heavy today, so a lot of it was walk-through time for those units,” Haston said. “Then going back and hitting some of our fundamentals today is what we felt was important. Rather than scheme and plays, we wanted to practice our technique and review some of those things.”
The Olympians also spent time working on special teams and did a little 7-on-7 work.
“We tried to do a little bit of everything today,” Vogel said. “I thought we ran around and got some good work done. You could tell the guys were excited. I think it gets a lot more real for the seniors when official practice rolls around, and I thought the guys cranked it up a little bit. It felt different than a summer practice.”
Unlike the heat that pervades most first days of practice, Monday’s weather was a little more mild with temperatures in the low 80s.
“We ran hard and got some good work in today,” East senior running back Tyler Weller said. “We were aggressive out here. I think we made some improvement,”
“I think as a team, our heads are still spinning a little bit, and once we get more locked in on our plays, we’ll be able to be more aggressive on offense and get more yards with our carries,” East senior linebacker Caaden Gault added. “It’s good to come out here and compete as a team and see what we’re going to be good at this year so we can win some games.”
The Olympians went 4-6 last year and have plenty of holes to fill. One of those is at quarterback, where junior Zach Foster and sophomore Kyson Villarreal are vying to replace two-year starter Ethan Duncan.
“Those guys are doing a good job and both battling,” Vogel said. “I think both guys bring a little bit something different. One’s strengths are the other’s weakness, and vice versa, so we’re not in any rush to name a starting quarterback. We’ll know when we have it, and if we don’t, we’ll end up playing both guys. I think that’s a decision we’re going to make as we get closer to the start of the season.”
East opens the regular season Aug. 18 at Bloomington South.
North also has numerous holes to fill after going 5-6 last season. Sophomore Asher Ratliff is taking over for record-setting quarterback Zac Horn.
The Bull Dogs begin the regular season Aug. 18 at home against Decatur Central.
“Football is just fun,” North junior running back Sam Mormino said. “Everybody seems like they really want to be out here and have fun playing and being on the field. We have to work on some conditioning and just get back into the groove. We might be young, but we have seniors that can lead, and then us juniors, we feel like we’re all going to be good.”
“It was good getting back out here and starting up the season preparing for Decatur Central Week 1 and getting ready to go,” North junior offensive tackle Bryce Harriman added. “We’re like a big family and everything. We all back each other up. I think a lot of people in this down are not thinking we’re going to be the best because of how young we are, but I think we’re going to come out here firing on all gears ready to go.”
