PREP FOOTBALL: Hornets abuzz for initial football fall practice

Football
Football

BRYANT -- Monday may have served as the opening day of high school football fall practices around Arkansas, but for the state's premier Class 7A program, it was more like another day at the office.

Around 150 players darted up and down Everett Field at Hornet Stadium as Bryant got in quite a bit of work while taking advantage of the rare, mild morning temperatures they were met with.

"We started out a little slow, but we did OK at the end," Bryant Coach Buck James said, referring to his team's first day. "We've done quite a bit already during the summer, but these next few weeks, it's about getting in shape completely. We're going to get a lot of conditioning in, get our legs, arms and joints ready to play the game of football.

"But we've also got to get their minds right to stay disciplined. ... try to get the focus and intensity in to see who wants to do it under fire."

The intensity level for the coaching staff seemed to be right on schedule on Day 1 of preseason camp.

The Hornets donned helmets, jerseys and shorts as they went through drills that touched on about every aspect and phase of the game. The attention to detail was also evident throughout practice, from collective and instructive repercussions that were applied on missed opportunities to the unison reactions on made field goals.

That meticulousness isn't anything out of the ordinary for Bryant. Besides, there's a reason the Hornets have won the past four championships in the state's largest classification. Their preparation for the 2022 season started long before Aug. 1.

"We started for sure in spring football," James explained. "So we've been going since April, at least two or three days a week ever since then, and we've done all we can do in shorts and helmets."

To a certain extent, planning for some Hornets indirectly began not long after they knocked off Fayetteville in the last year's Class 7A final. Bryant, which went 12-1 in 2021 and hasn't been beaten by anyone from Arkansas in nearly four years, is returning many from that group, particularly on a defense that boasts several NCAA Division I recruits. But the Hornets will also have to fill holes in key areas, such as the offensive line and at quarterback.

That chore is what makes this time of the year so important to James. He's not about to bask in what the team did previously, and he's more than aware that his guys will be the hunted in Class 7A once the season gets underway at the end of the month. With that in mind, the seventh-year coach understands what he'll need if the Hornets are going to extend its title run to five in a row.

"We're looking for guys we can depend on," he said. "A lot of guys, especially the young ones, can do a lot of things when they're fresh or in shorts and helmets. But when you put the pads on, that's the key. We're looking for guys that are dependable and will take care of their business, do the little things right.

"Can they make the tough play, make the tough catch, be there when they don't feel good just as much as they're there when they feel great? We've got 43 seniors, but the hardest thing for them to understand is that they're the next guy up. With the level of expectation that we asked out of our football team, they've got to set the tone and step it up."


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