Although it hasn’t been visible to the public, the Marion County football teams have been hard at work since June 1 preparing for the upcoming season.
Recently I was able to catch up with West Marion head coach Brad Duncan and Columbia High School head coach Chip Bilderback to get a sense of how their first three weeks of the summer program have gone.
West Marion shuffling O-line
There’s no question the Trojans will go through some growing pains in 2018 despite only graduating a handful of starters. They graduated three starting offensive lineman but also had one quit and another move to another state.
However, head coach Brad Duncan has two players who gained some experience last season as injury replacements ready to become full-time starters.
“Jordyn Mahaffey has looked really good, and he has some experience up there a little bit. Big Teddy (Williams) started some last year as a freshman,” he said. “Both of them are about where they’re supposed to be, but that still leaves me three spots.”
Those three spots will likely be filled by undersized defensive lineman.
“We have a couple guys who have played on the defensive line — some of the smaller kids — who are having to play offense now. They keep working hard and will be OK I think,” Duncan said. “Blaten Norris, Blake Lowery, Cooper Foxworth, Josh Ham and Daniel Herrera realize it’s up to them now. They’ve accepted that challenge, and some of them are going to play both ways. I’m probably going to rotate them around and keep them fresh, so they can help us on both sides.”
The Trojans played East Marion and Tylertown in 7-on-7 this week, which will be covered in next week’s sports section. Meanwhile, the offseason goal remains the same.
“We’re just trying to get stronger still and work on our speed and conditioning a little bit,” Duncan said.
Wildcats buying in with perfect attendance
It might sound a bit cliché, but it was clear when talking to first-year head coach Chip Bilderback that he’s most excited about the commitment the Wildcats have shown this summer with more than 50 players with perfect attendance and more than 60 per workout.
Columbia has been working out for two hours three days each week with one hour in the weight room and an hour on the gridiron.
The Wildcats played Sumrall in a 7-on-7 contest Wednesday morning and will play at Hattiesburg next week, but the two scrimmages likely won’t be the best indicator of success for Columbia. Bilderback mentioned the style of play used in a 7-on-7 environment — pass offense vs. pass defense — won’t be the Wildcats identity, but they will serve as good measuring and teaching tools.
“We’re really trying to keep it as more of a teaching deal rather than trying to get first downs. It’s going to be like a glorified practice,” he said. “We both wanted to slow it down and use it as teaching moments.”
Instead of noticing any particular standout players so far, Bilderback has been more in awe of the culture being built.
“The buy-in from the kids has been really encouraging. If we can sustain that for the next six weeks we have throughout the summer, then I think we’ll be on our way to having a strong football team,” he said. “We’re trying to get better in three areas in our offseason program: strength and conditioning, develop our football skills and what I think is the most important is creating that team unity that you have to have when you get into the fall season.”
