Published June 27, 2009 12:09 am -
Heat bears down on prep team camp
By Mike Kays
Phoenix Sports Editor
The temperature, racing toward 100 degrees, was past that on the artificial surface of Indian Bowl.
A slight breeze made it somewhat pleasant, what with five straight days of century marks on the heat scale.
But there stood Muskogee football coach Matt Hennesy, in a sweat shirt during the second day of the Green Country Football Camp.
More or less, he was the official heat monitor.
“This way,” he said, “If it is getting to me, I know it’s getting to them.”
Contrast that to Sequoyah’s Brent Scott in a tank top. When the contrast was mentioned to him, he jokingly suggested he to was suffering by using limited sunblock.
Recent years have shown cooler temperatures in June, but eight schools — Muskogee, Sequoyah, Gore, Tulsa Central, Afton, Warner, Pocola and Poteau — worked their way through Friday’s scorcher with a mix of short and long breaks.
“Then again, it’s been this hot in August and September, so we might as well get used to it now,” Scott said.
Hennesy thinks his team was used to it, and credited the new offense for helping that.
“Running the no-huddle all spring probably has helped our conditioning,” he said. “I’m real pleased with that right now.”
It looks as if the Roughers may go heavier on the no-huddle using the Wildcat formation that rotates three quarterbacks — Mitch Stevenson, Victor Williams and Kyler Harris. When not taking snaps, all three will work in receiver spots.
“We’re going to use what works best in each situation,” Hennesy said. “All three of these guys have looked equally good catching the football.”
Sequoyah’s fortunes begin with Chris Littlehead, the two-way All-Phoenix lineman who is getting offers, Scott said, from several Division I schools.
“He’s our bellcow,” he said. “We’re developing around him and I’m pretty optimistic about the level of potential we have to be pretty good this year.”