By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The first official football practice for Southeast Alamance’s football team ended up shorter than expected.
A storm blew through Monday morning, and that caused the Stallions, who are gearing up for the school’s first season, left the practice field after a workout session of more than an hour.
“We were excited when it was raining,” senior receiver Jake Rasko said. “Then they said it was time to go in.”
Still, there was plenty accomplished as it was the first time the team worked out at the new campus.
“We got all the organizational stuff done,” coach Tony Aguliar said.
Southeast had 60-plus players show up for the first day of practice. There’s lots to get used to for the Stallions.
“It’s nice,” lineman Nathan Fredette said. “We have new equipment and everything.”
There are also new players, many previously at Eastern Alamance and Southern Alamance. Rasko is from Southern and Fredette is from Eastern, though neither played football last season.
At the school’s stadium, a construction crew was doing some work. The season opens August 18, with Southeast’s home opener a week later against Eastern Alamance.
About 6½ miles away, the Southern Alamance team practiced under increasingly darkening morning skies that turned to rain for about 40 minutes. There was a downpour for approximately 20 minutes, but the Patriots continued with their work on the practice field. The session wrapped up under blue skies.
Cummings, Graham, Williams and Western Alamance are among teams holding evening practices this week.
Those decisions come for a combination of reasons, though there’s the potential for delays for those sessions if temperatures haven’t dipped below mandated levels. There’s also the availability of members of coaching staffs who don’t work at the schools.
“Some of our staff can’t be here until 5 (p.m.),” Williams coach Patrick Stokes said.
The Bulldogs have about 115 players signed up. Eastern Alamance had 101 players early in the week. Western Alamance has had more than 90 players.
Graham had fewer than 30 on the field for practice. The Red Devils were outfitted in practice gear with “Trust Believe Finish” on their backs.
Cummings has more than 60 players, so that’s a nice number in coach David Grimm’s opinion.
“We’ve had some good participation,” he said. “We’ll have a JV and a varsity.”
Around the county, there’s the normal preseason optimism among the teams.
“I think we’re going to be good,” Western receiver/cornerback James Newton said. “We’ve got to keep working.”
Eastern Alamance has been the county’s top team the past couple of seasons. Nothing is guaranteed for the Eagles.
“We’ll see when we come to play the games,” Eastern senior linebacker Payton Wright said.
We’ll see you
Cummings and Williams won’t meet during the season because of scheduling glitches, but the two Burlington schools will face each other in a controlled scrimmage next week.
Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. get-together will be at Burlington Memorial Stadium on the Williams campus. Admission is $5.
Paylor moves commitment date
Cummings multi-purpose back Jonathan Paylor’s much-anticipated college commitment announcement has moved up a day.
Paylor, a rising senior, will reveal his choice at 6:00 p.m. Friday at the school.
Paylor has listed his finalists as Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Penn State, and South Carolina.
Meet the teams
Eastern Alamance’s “Meet the Eagles” for fall sports teams is set for 10:00 a.m. Saturday at the campus stadium.
Williams will have a gathering for fall teams and fans at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at the stadium on campus.
At Southern Alamance, a “Meet the Patriots” session will be held at 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday.
Western Alamance’s football, cheer, and dance teams will have a “Meet the Warriors” event at 9:00 a.m. August 12.
A “Meet the Stallions” for Southeast Alamance will be held in conjunction with a community open house for the new school. That will be conducted from 9:00-11:00 a.m. August 12.
Cummings held a “Meet the Team” event for its football team last Friday.
