BENTONVILLE — The new restrictions placed on preseason football practices will make Bentonville’s first two days of workouts seem a lot like offseason conditioning drills.
Tigers coach Barry Lunney will also use that time to get his players prepared for what awaits them in the upcoming days.
“We’ll get into our practice structure, the way practices will look like when we get our pads on,” Lunney said. “There will be a certain format structure we’ll go by, so you get them used to that routine.
“The defense will be working on formations and formation recognition, and the offensive players will be running routes, then we’ll come together. There will be a little bit of that, but we’ll try to do some things to take advantage of this time and hit hard with our special teams.”
The summer heat has already caused Bentonville to push its practice sessions an hour earlier, with junior varsity starting at 7 a.m. and varsity at approximately 8:30 a.m. Lunney hopes to have 155 to 160 players report, but that number could fluctuate up to the last minute as players make their decisions.
One of the Tigers’ pressing needs is to find continuity with an almost totally restructured offense. Bentonville must replace nine starters from a unit that averaged more than 42 points per game, and its lone returnee on the offensive line — tackle Trevor Foster — has switched to the other side of the football.
“We need to work on the cohesiveness that the offensive line needs to develop with one another,” Lunney said. “They have to get used to playing next to certain people and how they react in some of the blocking schemes because so much of our zone blocking depends on each other.
“There’s also the quarterback’s timing with the receivers, and Reece (Dollins) getting to where he understands everybody’s speed and releases. You can’t throw the same ball every time to the same receiver because some are slower getting out of their cuts and some are faster. It’s the timing issue on the offensive side.”
Bentonville put on a good showing on its home field during the Vype Select 7-on-7 tournament last weekend. The Tigers avoided a pair of close calls and completed an unbeaten run with a victory over Lake Hamilton in the championship game.
Lunney, however, won’t allow his team to rest on those laurels, especially since the regular game is so much different than what it experienced last week.
“We’re proud of what they did during the tournament,” he said. “We competed very well, and we’re pleased with the way we threw and caught the ball and not give up the deep ball.
“But this is a whole different deal. We’re comparing apples to oranges now. This is the real stuff, and what we’ve worked for. The whole element of those guys up front, when they’re factored in the equation, is huge.”
Bentonville Tigers 2012 Football Schedule
Date Opponent Time
Aug. 31 Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 7 at Broken Arrow, Okla. 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 14 South Panola (Miss.) 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 21 *at Springdale Har-Ber 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28 *Siloam Springs 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5 *at Rogers High 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 12 *Rogers Heritage 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 19 at Van Buren 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 26 *at Springdale High 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 2 *Fayetteville 7:30 p.m.
- — denotes 7A/6A-West Conference game