 | It may be time for summer vacation but members of the Henryetta Knights football team are already preparing for the 2015 season. The football field house is seeing potential athletes spending time going through conditioning drills each afternoon. Second year head coach Darin Johnson told Rotary Club members he has been excited to see students from seventh through high school participating. The students go through conditioning drills and have participated in some competition against other schools. |
| "We are trying to a seven on seven this summer," he said but that has been complicated with summer schedules. The athletes have been participating in some camps including a trip with 16 athletes at Mounds. "We stood in the rain for four ours two days." That included Keifer, Mounds and Porter schools. | |
| Looking ahead to the coming season, he said he has three members of the team who are competing for the quarterback position. The team lost the starting quarterback last year to graduation. He told the Rotarians the schedule will be basically the same. The exception will be the loss of savanna. that will be replaced by a Thursday night JV game with Beggs high school. "The program overall is not where we want to be but I've got a very good group of kids." Johnson pointed out he is also trying to instill three principles in the athletes: Faith, Family and Football. "Those things are compatible. You have to have faith in each other. It starts with faith in God, then faith in teammate, and coaches. Football is about family. we have to support each other, the coaches, players and family.." On football, he said, "when you take care of those other two things, it will take care of itself. He praised the students already showing a desire to play this year. "This group is special. They are tight-knight. They depend on each other. I'm really excited about the possibilities. It will take work but we are headed in the right direction." Johnson expressed his appreciation for the support shown during the past year by the community. "There are a lot of people in town support us and we couldn't do what we need to do without that. | |
