With the first game of the 2011 season now literally weeks away, the Apalachee High School Wildcats know it’s crunch time.
AHS opens the new campaign Aug. 26 against Habersham Central on the road. The Wildcats, under the direction of veteran head coach Shane Davis have been working at a steady pace since the end of spring practice with their summer conditioning and workouts even though June always presents challenges.
“We are not as far along as I would like,” Davis said Monday while on a mini-vacation with his family. “We have so many kids who are involved in other things, in other sports, on vacation and at church camps. When these events overlap, it’s tough to get everything done.”
Davis said many members of the AHS coaching staff also take vacations in June.
With July now here, players will continue to lift weights as well as work on the practice field for conditioning.
“As we get closer to preseason practice, we will spend even more time on the field,” Davis said.
While the Wildcats finished 2010 with a winning record, the team missed the playoffs by a game, finishing fifth in the tough Region 8-AAAA. That result was simply not good enough for the program, which has become accustomed to winning, Davis said.
“Last season did not end the way we wanted it to,” the coach said. “Things didn’t go our way at the end of the season and we have to make sure things don’t happen that way again. That’s why you have to work every day to make sure when you reach that point that the breaks go in your favor.”
After the season opener AHS has its bye week before facing Flowery Branch. That game could end up having an impact on the postseason race. The Falcons won a track meet between the teams a year ago on the football field.
