By Gene Schallenberg
Staff Reporter
NEW WAVERLY —
Even nine months after the fact, it doesn’t take much to conjure up the sour memories from last season’s short-lived playoff run.
In what was essentially a home game, playing just 15 minutes away from home at Bowers Stadium, the New Waverly Bulldogs were stymied all game on both sides of the ball. What resulted was New Waverly’s worst offensive production of the season and an early exit from the playoffs.
Considering Woodville ended the Bulldogs’ season last fall, it’s only fitting that the Eagles are the first team New Waverly faces, albeit in an unofficial capacity, in this year’s campaign. The Bulldogs head to Woodville today for their first scrimmage, which will kick off at 10 a.m. in Woodville’s Eagle Stadium.
“It’s not just a scrimmage to us. They kicked us out of the playoffs. We’re intending on coming out and winning,” New Waverly senior Dillian Scott said following Friday’s light workout. “We’re going to do what we’ve got to do and beat them. We’re not going to take it lightly. We’re going to hit them in the mouth.”
New Bulldogs head football coach M.K. Hamilton admitted that he didn’t know what to expect from his new team when he took over as head coach early this week. After four days of working with his new squad, Hamilton likes what he sees so far.
“Given the circumstances, I was kind of nervous coming in here and how things were going to be as far as how the kids would respond to me,” Hamilton said. “Our kids have responded great to me. They’ve worked hard. They’ve done what we’ve asked of them.
“We’ve made some minor changes and they’ve done it. The thing about it is they’ve done it 100 percent. They’ve made the changes and nobody’s complained. The kids have been phenomenal as far as their work ethic and just getting after it.”
After signing contract papers on Monday afternoon, Hamilton, the Bulldogs’ fourth head football coach in less than a month, officially began working with the New Waverly football team Tuesday.
“The first day was slow out here,” Hamilton said. “They didn’t know me. I was just a strange face out here trying to get them going. Since then, our practices have been good and quick. We haven’t had to run things over and over. The kids get what we’re doing and they’re going full speed and just get after it.
“It makes a difference when the kids that you have, you don’t have to go back and start over and do things a thousand times to get it right. What we do, our kids get it right, they do it full speed and they come to play. They practice game speed every day I’ve been here. That has been an awesome feeling.”
After practicing for two weeks, including spending the first four days in helmets, T-shirts and shorts, the Bulldogs are itching to line up against players from an opposing team.
“It’s going to be exciting going up against Woodville,” junior lineman Anthony Offutt said, “because it’s going to give us the opportunity to actually hit somebody. We can only go so hard on our people. We just want to let loose.”
While they can hardly wait to get a second chance at Woodville, the players know that today’s scrimmage can also help point out some of their strengths and weaknesses to better prepare for the season opener on Aug. 27 against Lovelady.
“We just want to do everything right and correct all of our mistakes,” Scott said.
“It’s just our first scrimmage, so we’re going to make mistakes. If we mess up, we mess up. But we’ve got to make sure not to stop in the middle of the play and then fix those mistakes.”
“We don’t run much of a new offense, but we have a few different plays,” Offutt added. “To be able to put it in a situation like this so we can execute our plays and be able to see where we mess up and how to fix it, it’ll help us a lot.”
Lining up in what will be a structured scrimmage, Hamilton will be able to see where the Bulldogs are and where they need to improve in the final two weeks of the preseason.
“We want to go out and be competitive. What we want to do is to win the scrimmage,” the coach said. “The most important thing to us is that we’ve got to leave that scrimmage healthy and correct the mistakes we’re going to make so that we can improve. It’s an opportunity to see what we’re doing wrong and what we’re doing right.
“They’re excited. I think they’re tired of beating on each other for a week and it would be nice to knock on somebody else for a change.”
For the last few days of practice, senior Arthur Reece and junior Isaiah Gilliam have been taking snaps due to senior quarterback Micah Bohannon suffering from a staph infection, which has kept him from getting reps at practice.
“This is my first year back because I didn’t play last year, so I’m just trying to work on my mechanics,” Gilliam said. “You never know if you need to step in for somebody because they get hurt. That’s why it’s very important for me to get my repetitions in. I know Arthur has been stepping in and has done a good job.
“Anything can happen, but it’s my job to be ready and keep the flow of the offense going. I’m going to try my best to do that.”
