Petoskey football opens practice eager to return to winning ways
PETOSKEY — Football teams hit the weight room throughout the offseason, study plays and get together for routes and throws during the summer, but nothing beats the real thing.
On Monday at Northmen Stadium in Petoskey and throughout the state of Michigan, the real thing finally came.
Football practice officially opened Monday, with the Northmen taking the field with a whole lot of energy and eager to get things going under new head coach Jim Webb.
“There’s a lot more excitement when this is for real and official, that type of thing,” said Webb. “We had really good turnout all summer with kids working, but they know it’s go time now. There was a lot of excitement and obvisouly you’ve got to get everyone out here and through all the (physicals) and paperwork, but once we got through all that, it’s been a lot of fun tonight.”
A former Cadillac coach and Michigan Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame member, Webb keeps things loose throughout his practices, is seemingly always smiling and even got the most out of guys in post-practice sprints Monday, even after the players tried to convince him they weren’t supposed to have them.
“I think they’ve really bought in,” said Webb. “We really changed how we practice and that kind of stuff. Obviously a new offensive system brought in and we’ve tweaked some defensive things. I think that they’re excited about it. It’s a little new to them, but at the same time they’re saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got an opportunity for some playing time.’ They’re a good group of guys, they really are.”
Petoskey is in need of a group to come through the program that’s eager to change how things have been done. The Northmen have had just one season with more than three wins in five of the last six years.
From the few seniors that are back this season, to a large and energetic junior class and even a few sophomores looking to break in at the varsity level, there appears to be a willingness to put a better product on the field in 2022.
Petoskey junior quarterback Joe McCarthy is one of those guys. While he’s just a junior, McCarthy started the final two games of 2021 and leads guys around the field with confidence. He was also happy to have everyone back out Monday.
“It felt great,” he said. “Everyone kind of came together. We were together throughout the whole summer, but it felt real this time.
“A lot of different energy, a lot more going into the details of the offense and defensive situations too.
Most of the opening day for most programs involves a lot of individual drill work, getting guys up to speed and of course, conditioning.
For the Northmen, add installing a new offense for a second straight year, but McCarthy and others feel like Webb’s modern setup has been smooth.
“Like I said before, this is definitely a very high school friendly offense,” said McCarthy. “It’s been very easy to pick up for everyone, so it’s worked out well.”
One area that’s likely helping comes in the guys Webb picked to make up his staff, a mix of newcomers like his son, Jared Webb, and others, as well as assistants who have been around the program for decades like Shawn Wonnacott, Mike Loper, Jamie Buchanan and Gavin Fralick.
“That’s one thing that I’ve been able to get is tremendous staffs at everywhere I’ve been,” said Webb. “This is no exception here. We’ve got some older guys and some younger guys. We’ve got Jake Lee, who was a past athlete here and does a tremendous job with the guys. Then guys like coach (Wonnacott) and others who have been here. I’ve been blessed.”
Things will pick up as the weeks move on for the Northmen, from the install of the new offense and defense to players emerging on the field.
The first day, players wear in just helmets and shorts and will then transition into helmets and shoulder pads later in the week, then full pads Friday, which is really when Webb will learn about the team.
“It’s hard to tell right now because we’ve got so many uncertainties,” he said. “We’ll know more once we get the full pads Friday. We’ve got the inter-squad scrimmage Saturday, so Friday and Saturday is going to really be an eye opener for everyone.”
One area where Webb has really put focus during the preseason and early in camp is finding enough guys to start on both sides of the ball, eliminating having multiple players being forced into playing a full game offensively and defensively.
Much of the success Cadillac had in the past under Webb was predicated on keeping guys fresh and focusing on one position.
“I’m trying to reduce as many two-way players as we can,” said Webb. “We’re trying to build as much depth as we can. I really believe that’s what gets you through the season. So we’re trying to build that and get as many starters as we can on both sides of the ball. So that’s kind of where we’re at. Right now, it’s a little bit of a crap shoot because we haven’t seen them with pads.”
Petoskey will get in a scrimmage against each other this Saturday at Northmen Stadium, then meet Mount Pleasant and Swan Valley in a formal scrimmage the following week. The regular season then opens at home on Thursday, Aug. 25 against Ludington.
Leading up to all those key days, McCarthy and his fellow teammates just want to focus on getting better in all facets.
“Getting fundamentally better in every way you can, getting one percent better every day and making sure you go hard every single play,” he said. “Just putting in 100 percent effort every single time.”
Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey football opens practice eager to return to winning ways
