SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Excitement buzzed around the practice fields at Schuylkill Haven and Blue Mountain High Schools on Tuesday morning.

Battling the humidity, teams across Schuylkill County are taking the field to begin working toward the common goal of a state championship.

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“This is really the building blocks of the season and we have to take care of what we can control,” Blue Mountain coach Chuck Kutz said. “We want to make sure we know where we’re going and that we’re in good physical shape.”

Schuylkill Haven is holding three two-a-day practices this week, while Blue Mountain has two on the schedule before padded practices and intensity level picks up next week ahead of “Scrimmage Saturday” on Aug. 22.

Schuylkill Haven

Longtime Hurricanes coach Mike Farr is focused this week on solidifying the offensive and defensive rotations and fine-tuning the starters all around the field.

“It’s really about refining reps, and we’re trying to find who those rotational guys are right now that we want starting,” Farr said. “At small schools, it’s really important because we try to find those next six or seven guys so we’re not playing complete ironman.”

Next week, the team will dive into game preparation and simulation, including more contact, and “go live” as Farr likes to say.

The teams can only practice five total hours one day and three hours the next, according to PIAA regulations.

Some of the biggest camp battles right now include at the left tackle position where Luca Wessner and Juan Torres are battling for a starting spot.

“All I really care about is if these guys can be coachable,” Farr said. “In our football program, the opinions stop when they leave the locker room and the coaches are right, so they just need to be coachable.”

The four other offensive line positions are set in stone, with Chase Leibensperger transitioning from tight end to right guard for the first time on the varsity squad. Leibensperger is joining teammate Triston Davis on a line which helped the Hurricanes rush for over 5,000 yards a season ago.

“We try to stay together to stay motivated and see our way through practice,” Leibensperger said. “There’s always another practice after this one and sooner than later we’ll be playing games.”

Davis is returning on the offensive line, as well as at linebacker after leading the team with 87 tackles and 6.7 tackles per game last season. He’s working most on speed, agility and moving around the field.

“There’s a big mental side to starting practices and you’ve just got to lock in and get your work done,” Davis said. “We’ve really got to work hard, get conditioned and get used to the practices.”

The number-four running back spot is up for grabs between Chase Yoder and Brody Walchak.

Getting the bulk of the carries will be senior running back Colton Reber, who closed out last season with 38 touchdowns and 2,875 rushing yards. He’s most looking forward to Week 1 and believes the two-a-day practices are the best way to get conditioned.

“Mentally I know what’s coming, so I just stay ready and hydrated and do everything I can to keep my body in shape,” Reber said. “There’s 20 days of practices, so it’s a long grind.”

Blue Mountain

Kutz, entering his second season as the lead man at Blue Mountain, is making sure his players are taking a detail-oriented approach at the start of practices this week.

He also wants to make sure the team is keeping a fourth-quarter mentality all the way through.

“The mental side is getting everyone together and we get to see who’s here and who’s going to give us effort,” Kutz said. “There’s always surprises and that’s the fun part for us.”

The Eagles are spending the first week of camp working on the building blocks like positioning, technique and putting all the parts together to equal the sum.

“We want to run through the football, make plays and put people in the right spots,” Kutz said. “The concept is to get all the fundamentals down from footwork, assignment and alignment and aggression.”

Quarterback Cohen Kirby leads the offense, and is looking forward to playing with the guys he grew up alongside including Kurt Krammes, Hunter Reichert, Guers and Foose.

“Offensively, we’re excited because we have a lot of experience behind all of our starters and we have a lot of talent and speed,” Kirby said. “We all have chemistry because we all grew up playing with each other and it’s exciting knowing I’m with all the guys I grew up with.”

For now, practices are helping Kirby get more comfortable with his teammates to hit the ground running when game time finally arrives.

“I just want to go in confident and be efficient from the get-go,” Kirby said. “We just want to get into a rhythm and the more I throw the ball, the more it comes to me in a flow state.”

The team will take on Exeter from District 3 in its “Scrimmage Saturday” matchup on Aug. 22.

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Read full story at source