Kickoff feels a lot closer now at Odessa High.
That’s after Friday’s workout at Coleman Field — the Bronchos football team’s first full ‘football’ practice of the fall.
Yes, all week, since camp opened Monday, the Bronchos have been able to step around playbook walkthroughs and push their way through conditioning drills. They’ve had their chances to sharpen handoffs, and throw and catch.
But Friday was bit more like the real deal — and a bit more like Lubbock Monterey.
“It felt good putting the pads on,” senior Bronchos receiver Zay Brown said.
Brown spoke just off the practice field after Friday’s workout, less than two weeks away from Odessa High’s upcoming season opener with the Plainsmen in Lubbock.
Friday, for the first time this fall, Brown and his Bronchos teammates had the chance to don their shoulder pads and go through contact drills, making their way through practice in the same gear they’ll play in on Friday nights this fall.
UIL rules restrict teams from using contact equipment through their first four days of practice in fall camp. On the fifth day, teams can put on their pads.
For Odessa High, that meant Friday — and players could start getting used to the added weight and their changed range of motion, and let loose in drills at playing speed.
“I think they were excited about getting the pads on,” Bronchos head coach Danny Servance said. “You go through those four days of acclimation, and then you kind of look forward to that day when you get the pads on.”
Odessa High eased into the effort in ‘shells’ Friday, with players dressing in shoulder pads and helmets, but forgoing playing pants and thigh pads for shorts.
Senior Bronchos cornerback Aaron Ochoa said he could see those shoulder pads weighing down his teammates a bit as they worked to get acclimated, but, for the most part, the Bronchos handled it well.
Today, the team is scheduled to dress in full pads for a practice and intra-squad scrimmage.
“It was a pretty good practice,” Ochoa said after Friday’s workout. “Tomorrow is going to be fun.”
Servance said he liked the energy from his team Friday, and liked what he saw as they worked to condition themselves to their playing gear.
“I think they, more than us, wanted to go full pads — but we’re trying to take care of them, and make sure that they’re healthy and all that going into next week,” he said.
The Bronchos battled both blazing heat and sticky humidity at times this week, with clear skies and temperatures nearing 100 degrees beating down on the dry practice field for parts of the week, except for when storms rolled through the area on Tuesday and Wednesday and made for humid conditions.
Facing tough weather all week, the Bronchos coaches decided to go in shells Friday to give the players a chance to work up to full gear.
“You have to be careful as far as taking care of kids in this type of weather. We’re trying to do our best to make sure that we get optimum performance out them — and hopefully we’ll see the benefits in the morning,” Servance said, hoping to see a squad warmed up and ready when it dresses in full pads today.
After today’s workout, the Bronchos will start another week of practice Monday on their way toward their scrimmage with El Paso Montwood on Aug. 25 in Van Horn.
Then Aug. 31, Odessa High is set to face Lubbock Monterey in that season opener.
“August is here. It’s football time,” Servance said. “And before you know it, we’ll be in Lubbock getting ready to kick off at 7 o’clock down there.
“The time that we have, we’ve really got to be efficient with it, and make sure that we’re doing the things that’s going to make us successful.”
