Aug. 5—Like Christmas Day, High School Football season officially arrived for many high schools across the state of Texas Monday and some coaches and players were too eager to get any sleep that night.
That was especially true for the Andrews Mustangs.
The Mustang football team began its first practice of the 2024 season at the exact strike of midnight, practicing under the lights of Mustang Bowl as the team held its first ever Midnight Madness.
“We’re really excited,” Andrews head coach Tom Harvey said. “Our community is excited. We’ve never done a Midnight Madness before, so this is new but you hear the excitement from the players n the dressing room. They got here early, maybe a little too early, but that’s fine. These guys have worked hard and we’re excited. We have aspirations for these guys.”
Monday was the start of football practice for all UIL schools including Class 5A and 6A teams that didn’t have spring football workouts.
That included the Odessa High Bronchos who enter the 2024 season under new management.
Former OHS quarterback and assistant Erik Hartman was named the new head coach during the summer, replacing Dusty Ortiz who left in May to take over at Creekview High School in Carrollton.
The Bronchos waited until 6 a.m. to get started at Joe Coleman Field.
“It’s exciting,” Hartman said of his first practice with his team since being named the new OHS head coach. “It was hard for us coaches to sleep last night. I’m going into my 27th year of coaching. It’s just that excitement level. We’re waking up early. I kept waking up at 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. and then finally got out at 4 a.m. We had kids showing up early, too. it’s just the excitement of it all. That’s what we want. We want to build that excitement and continue it into football season.”
Hartman comes in having previously served as the offensive…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/high-school-football-fall-practices-000100194.html
Author : Odessa American, Texas
Publish date : 2024-08-06 00:01:00
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