Eagles' fine-tune offensive package
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on August 3, 2012 1:49 PM
Rosewood hit the practice field during the first week with one thing in mind.
The Eagles want to get better every single day.
"We have a good group of guys and that has led to some quality early practices," Rosewood head coach Robert Britt said. "Pretty much every guy that we expected to come out for football is here. There were not many surprises the first two days."
Britt and his coaching staff have the luxury of several returning letter winners from last season and have been able to spend most of their time teaching the intricacies of the Wing-T offense rather than the assignments.
The Eagles return four of five starters from 2011 on the offensive line and two starting backs.
"There is no doubt that having so many guys with varsity experience is a luxury," Britt said. "The linemen already know what the calls are and what their job is on every single play. We are replacing our center, but the other four guys are all back from last year."
After three practices the Eagles have 55 players in uniform. The group is going to be nearly evenly split between varsity and junior varsity with a handful of players dressing for both squads.
"With so many upperclassmen in camp we should be able to keep more sophomores than usual on the JV team," Britt said. "That is good for everyone because the extra playing time will pay off down the road."
One mission over the coming week will be to solidify the defensive front seven, which lost its top two linebackers from a year ago.
"We have some guys that we need to step up once the pads come on," Britt said. "It's going to be interesting to see who takes those positions when we get to the opening Friday night."
Rosewood opens its 2012 season Aug. 17 at home against Charles B. Aycock.