First day: High hopes in the heat of August

Gary Harris has traded Rocky Top for Moonlight in Vermont. And if the first day of football practice at Springfield High School is any indication, the music is playing well.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140812/SPORTS02/708129877

Published August 12, 2014 in the Rutland Herald First day: High hopes in the heat of August By Tom Haley STAFF WRITER Gary Harris has traded Rocky Top for Moonlight in Vermont. And if the first day of football practice at Springfield High School is any indication, the music is playing well. Harris came here from Tennessee this summer with the hopes of restoring luster to a program that had hit the skids. The Cosmos won a state title in 2008 and it’s been pretty much futility since. Things were so bad in 2012 that the program was relegated to junior varsity status. But Monday the participation looked to be up, as did the spirits. Harris could not attend the morning practice on Monday due to his job commitment in Rutland, but he was there for the afternoon session. Athletic Director Joe Brown and Jim Fog ran the morning practice that was focused on cardiovascular fitness. There were 30 players at the morning practice but Brown said, “We’re going to be close to 40 kids.” That is a hefty number for the Division III program at this time. “He just knows how to get everyone to work together,” Springfield senior running back/lineman Mike Kollman said of Harris. “This year we are more of a team and a family. We are working way better together.” And the newness won’t be confined to those intangibles. You will see a different operation on the field, Kollman said. “Everything is going to be different. It’s all going to be a change-up,” Kollman said. “We will have everything. We have sets for a wide-open offense and sets for other stuff.” It was not only in Springfield where things were fresh and new on this first day of practices. “We’ll have a new look. You might not recognize us,” Woodstock coach Ramsey Worrell said during the break halfway between the morning practice. No, he was not talking about the Delaware Wing T. Abandoning that would be considered heresy in this program where the Wasps have won three straight state championships and take a 31-game winning streak into their Aug. 29 opener at home against Poultney. No, Worrell has changed the traditional uniforms the Wasps wear. Those distinctive stripes will be gone and the helmets will be black, not green. The helmets were on display at Monday’s practice but the rest of the uniform will not be unveiled until the Blue Devils come to town. Worrell said there will not be any talk around the Wasps’ camp about that 31-game wining streak. “This is the last time you will hear about that around here,” he said. “It’s a pride thing, but we want to continue the tradition of Woodstock football, not worry about the winning streak,” said Nemo Wood, who returns as the Wasps starting quarterback. Worrell said the Wasps’ numbers are right around 30, which is typical for the Division III program. Springfield has an open date the first week when they play nearby New Hampshire school Fall Mountain in a scrimmage. The Cosmos’ first scrimmage is at Otter Valley on Saturday. Brown added assistant coach to his duties of athletic director this year because, as a former Springfield High football player, he wants to see the program come back. “Gary asked me to hop on board,” Brown said. “I would not have done it if I didn’t think he was the right guy for the job.” “I like how everything is interchangeable,” Kollman said of the offense. “Everyone is going to get a chance to get the ball. Last year the coaches had favorites and the same people got the ball 80 percent of the time.” The nice feature of this program in its bid to build something for the future is that there is a good turnout of freshmen. “We have a class of 19 freshmen, and if they all stick it out it’s going to help,” Kollman said. Kollman recalled watching the 2008 title team and what it did for the community. “I went to all the home games that year,” he said. “And then when they won it, the bus came back into town and everyone was beeping their horn. The whole town came together. That’s what our town needs now.” Springfield opens the season Sept. 5 at home against Woodstock. The Wasps got a bit of bad news when it was learned that senior defensive tackle Ethan Buckman had to have foot surgery and will be out for the season. “This was his year to play on both sides of the ball,” Worrell said. “We feel bad about that. I think he is still going to try to be part of the team.” Division I Rutland beat most everyone onto the field Monday, answering the bell at 7:30 a.m. at Alumni Field. Coach Mike Norman gave the Raiders a conditioning test. “Everyone finished it,” he said. “It’s a starting point.” Norman likes to get out of the area for his scrimmages and will do so again. The Raiders will go to Exeter, N.H,. for one scrimmage that will also include Nashua South. The other one will also be in New Hampshire against defending Division I state champion Concord and Laconia. The Fair Haven Slaters had their first practice in the early afternoon. They are getting ready for the season opener at home on Aug. 29 against Otter Valley. “That’s more of a rival than anyone else we play,” quarterback Ryan Alexander said. The Slaters will be big up front with Logan Bathalon and Jake Carter each weighing more than 300 pounds. Head coach Brian Grady figures his line averages about 270 pounds. “I like what I see. We have a lot of kids coming back and we have quite a bit of size,” Batchelder said. The Slaters will be at Mill River for a scrimmage on Saturday and have a scrimmage with Middlebury the following week. “The numbers are better than I thought. We have about 55,” Grady said. “We’ll look a little different than last year.” That is because they had a big back in Tyler Rice, who was a punishing runner. This year the Slaters figure to play more in space using the double-threat ability of Alexander. Mill River’s roster is “around the 35 area,” according to first-year coach Tucker Peterson. There have been some nice surprises, including the appearance of a couple of first-time seniors. But the Minutemen graduated 16 seniors from the team that made it to last year’s title game. “We lost some good players but we are excited about the kids we have,” Peterson said. One of the graduates was quarterback Mark Goyette, leaving sophomores Mike Morgan and Jake Bishop to battle for that spot. “We did some 7-on-7 stuff this summer and they did well,” Peterson said. “Bishop will be a wide receiver when not playing quarterback.” The Minutemen have a blue-chipper in the line and he stood out on Monday even before the Minutemen did anything football related. That is because Jake Pitts is 6-foot-4, 330 pounds. He will be the center and a defensive tackle. Pitts recently was put through his paces by FCS power University of New Hampshire. “I went to a camp there a few weeks ago and they liked me a lot,” Pitts said. But he is not getting ahead of himself. There are high hopes in the Mill River camp as the Minutemen prep for their opener against Windsor at home on Aug. 30. “We lost a lot of players, but all of us are pretty excited. We have worked hard all summer,” Pitts said. “We’re undefeated. Just like everyone else,” Norman said in his office between practices. That is the beauty of this time of year. Everyone’s hopes are as high as ole Rocky, down in the Tennessee hills. NOTES: Springfield’s Joe Brown’s roommate was Mount St. Joseph’s Pat Dudley when they were football players at St. Anselm College. ... Jeff Thomas is no longer the athletic director at Woodstock after having moved up to the position of vice principal. The athletic director job has not yet been filled. ... New Mill River Athletic Director Kim Maniery was racing around at football practice, busy with the paperwork that comes with this time of year. ... Mount St. Joseph and Otter Valley make the long trip to BFA-Fairfax on successive weeks. The Mounties open up in Fairfax on Aug. 30 and the Otters will travel to Fairfax on Sept. 6 for their Division III opener. ... Springfield plays three consecutive games where both head coaches will be first-year guys. The Cosmos are at MSJ on Sept. 12 as they face new coach Phil Hall. They then they visit Peterson’s Mill River squad on Sept. 20 and then host Oxbow, a team with a new coach as Sean Murphy has replaced Mark Palmieri as the head man.