Prep football is here.
Thursday was the official start day for North Carolina High School Athletic Association fall sports, which includes football programs facing a number of changes — from a realigned conference to several new head coaches.
“Revolution is our theme this year,” said Allen Wooten, first-year coach of Greene Central High School. “We’re changing the way we practice, changing the way we work out (and) changing the way we prepare for games. Revolution is our theme, that’s what we’re looking for.”
Wooten took over the Greene Central program following the five-year tenure of Ken Grantham, who now is South Lenoir High School coach.
Grantham will tackle his first season with the program looking for a turnaround.
“It’s a lot of intensity out here,” said South Lenoir running back Dion Jones Thursday. “Everybody’s out here working, and I like it. (The coaches are) pressuring us, they’re pushing us. It’s going to be pretty good.”
The first five days of practice will be used for physical conditioning, while teams can advance to full uniforms and use body-to-body contact. Headgear, shorts and football shoes are acceptable practice gear the first couple of days, and teams can include shoulder pads on days three through five.
NCHSAA sent a release reminding schools of the hot weather management and prevention guidelines.
“We’re having to take extreme precaution,” said Wooten, who will include individual water breaks during the Rams’ practice. “We’re going to make sure they stay hydrated because we don’t want to ever lose a kid or have a kid with a heat issue.”
He added, between 65 and 70 players have been working out and they can “see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
NCHSAA schools can officially scrimmage starting Aug. 10, with season-openers across the state scheduled for Aug. 23. Arendell Parrott Academy is scheduled to open against Raleigh St. David’s School on Aug. 30 in the NCISAA 8-man conference.
With the NCHSAA conference realignment, most area schools are now in the same conference: East Carolina 2A. Ayden-Grifton High School and Goldsboro High School moved up from 1A this year, while North Lenoir High School moved down from 3A.
The teams will battle each other in the second half of the season.
“We had a strong, committed group this year that’s been coming out since June for workouts,” said Kinston High School’s offensive line coach Phoenix Evans, noting intensity was the difference between summer workouts and Day 1 of official practice.
“During the summer, they know they’re getting prepared for the season, but when the season is here … they’re excited and ready to go.”
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.