Gray pleased with Warriors in 7-on-7 workouts

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on July 9, 2015 1:48 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne held its third of five 7-on-7 summer workouts on Wednesday morning, as players got to work on executing plays and route running without pads.

The Warriors competed against Corinth-Holders and Jacksonville.

"Offensively, we were working on moving the ball around a lot today," Eastern Wayne head coach Phil Gray said. "We were working on catching the ball and getting yards after the catch.

"It's good because we get to work against some good teams. The most encouraging thing is that the kids are having fun and starting to get excited about the season."

Because the N.C. High School Athletic Association has put in strict rules about how much in-pad practicing can be done over the summer, the 7-on-7's offer a way to get a head start on programming the offensive and defensive game plans without interfering with the restrictions.

It's a first look at a relatively new Eastern Wayne team, too.

Former head coach Bubba Williams resigned in mid-winter to take over the football program at Corinth-Holders. Two-way star Dayshawn Pridgen graduated along with several other athletes, but the Warriors return the bulk of their team on both sides of the ball -- including senior quarterback KK Best.

"I wanted him (Best) to work on his patience and his ability to look downfield," Gray said. "And know that if nobody is open, that he's truly a running back. I believe this year that he'll be a little smarter. I fully expect the number of interceptions he throws to drop. He didn't even have that many last year and I think it's going to be less this year."

Gray is expecting Best to step up off the field, too.

"I'm looking for him to be a leader," he said. "We all look for good leaders. We want them to lead on and off the field. At Eastern Wayne, it's not all about athletic ability, but we're also looking for great future leaders of Wayne County."

Gray has experienced an easy transition from assistant to head coach.

"(Being a head coach) is really not much different than being an assistant coach," he said. "The three years I've been here and the nine at New Bern, I was always right beside the head coaches. I knew all of the process of the 7-on-7's and everything else that we did. I stayed close to the head coaches and helped them with what they needed."

With just two more 7-on-7's left on the schedule, Gray and his staff will spend the next week fine tuning what they want to see from their players heading into training camp. He mentioned that they'll look to establish their number one and number two receivers, as well as take an additional look at kids that don't quite have a defined place on the team yet.

The coaching staff has been impressed with a few newcomers this summer, particularly Anthony McNair and Tu'alonzo Farrior. Neither played football last season, but have gained some attention.

"McNair came out for us this year and is going to contend for a lot of playing time on the field," Gray said. "Farrior is a rising senior and should be a big contributor for us on offense and defense. This stage of the season is when everyone asks how good we're going to be," he said. "The only thing I can say is we won't know really until August 1. 7-v-7's with no pads -- you really can't tell.

"Kids might catch a ball without a pad, but not catch the same ball when they are wearing them.

Eastern Wayne wraps up its 7-on-7 schedule next Tuesday (6 p.m.) and Wednesday (9:30 a.m.).