Mason Wittner (Staff Writer)
The morning began with a fresh sunrise and the sound of pads cracking against one another.
Friday was another milestone for Kennesaw State football as the first full pad practice in the history of the program was held.
The Owls kicked off the practice with what they refer to as Owl Time, more widely known as Oklahoma Drills. These are drills in which a ball carrier is protected by one blocker and must evade a defender to reach the end zone, but he must remain within a set area. Instantly, the aggressiveness and competitiveness of this young squad was exemplified through the high-speed intensity in which they ran the drill.
Athletes on both sides of the ball we’re aiming to outperform and shine in the spotlight of their opponent. A scuffle broke out just minutes into the opening drill and resulted in brief sprints as reprimand from head coach Brian Bohannon.
“Owl Time is really a toughness drill,” Bohannon stated. “And you can tell today there was a lot of intensity, the guys were fired up and competing, and we’re excited about that. We were having to pull guys back a little bit in some of the drills. We really didn’t want it to be tackle-to-the-ground, but I’m great with that. If we have that problem, we have a good problem.”
Following Owl Time, the team split the two practice fields into offense and defense and broke down into individual groups by position. Each group ran a different drill for a period of five minutes before being told to move to the next drill. The practice consisted of 19 periods, which translated to roughly 1 hour and 40 minutes followed by conditioning.
The fast paced tempo of the practice, amplified by full pads, is nothing new according the players.
“It’s always this intense and upbeat,” defensive back Taylor Henkle said. “They’ve prepared us for this when we were conditioning for three weeks. So, we get out here and now we’ve got pads and we’re doing the same tempo.”
As for what has changed now that full pads have been implemented, freshman offensive lineman Brett Gillespie commented, “The only thing we have [added] is contact. Coaches are always stressing high effort, high tempo, moving-moving-moving. The tempo’s always there, we just got a little extra weight on us now and we can hit people.”
The team has now been practicing and conditioning for four weeks, and the team chemistry is beginning to build with each day.
“Every day it’s starting to get better and better and it’s starting to build,” cornerback Akebren Ralls said. “We’re starting to know what position you’re supposed to be in and what time.”
The Owls look to continue on in full pads weekly in preparation for the team scrimmage at Fifth Third Bank Stadium Oct. 11.
