GRIDDERS GET TO WORK

Aug. 2—Optimism flowed freely at both East Bladen and West Bladen high schools Monday as coaches and athletes hit the practice fields on the first official practice allowed by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

Before his players were scheduled to arrive, Knights second-year head coach Stanley Williams was hoping to see 45 to 55 players out — enough to adequately fill a jayvee.

"I'll be taking a majority of the players to the varsity, but I don't like playing freshmen unless there's that one who can do it," he said. "We'll probably have 11 or 12 seniors and just as many juniors, so we'll have some good varsity experience who can offer some leadership."

For the Eagles, 11th-year head coach Robby Priest was ecstatic to see "more players out than I thought there would be."

"We lost 18 seniors, but only five of them — two on offense and three on defense — were starters," he added. "So I'm looking at have a solid team out there."

Williams said his Knights are much farther along now than they were last season.

"We'll be able to make in-game adjustments and not have as many players going both ways," he said. "I really want the entire O-line sitting on the sidelines or the entire defense on the sidelines getting instructions.

"But we're past the terminology stage — past the rebuilding and now reloading," Williams added. "We have to remember we were just 16 points away from being third in the conference last season, so our foot has to stay on the gas."

For Priest, his main focus during the early part of practices will be on special teams.

"I want to get an early jump on that, as well as work on building our depth" he said. "But overall, I think we'll have a good line on both sides of the ball and I'm excited about our running game."

Priest also is happy to have an iconic coach at his disposal — former head coach Lenon Fisher is on the Eagles staff.

"It's good to have him with us," Priest said. "He's a good asset to have."

Over at West Bladen, Williams said his main focus will be on strength conditioning.

"We have some athletes, but we need to be stronger," he said. "So we'll be lifting twice a day."

Both the Eagles and Knights have only a handful of practice days before their first scrimmage, which will be during the Battle of the Carolinas at Lumberton High on Aug. 10. East Bladen will face Purnell Swett at 8 p.m. and West Bladen will take on host Lumberton at 9 p.m.

W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-862-4163 or cvincent@bladenjournal.com.