Written by Martha Perez – Journalism Staff Reporter
As students return to school, fall sports commence for another season. Of those, football, arguably the nation’s favorite sport, is preparing and training for a new season. At Allatoona, the football team begins their training over summer to enter in the fall prepared for the Friday Night Lights.
During the off season, they practice four to five days a week. When the season begins, morning practices before school are integrated as well as after school practices four days per week. They begin by warming up and then moving into special teams; afterwards, they work on their individual positions. They then scrimmage and end by going over the plays as a team. Senior Lukas Espino Linebacker says, “A lot of preparation within just physically and mentally goes into playing on the team.” Preparation is key to the team’s success. Head Coach Smith says, “Hours and hours of planning goes in from the coaches. We plan out and script every minute of every practice, so making sure we stay on time takes hours of time from our coaches and players.”
Watching film gives players a better view and understanding of how they are playing. Senior Quarterback Saadiq Teel says, “We watch a lot of film first off to see how we play and what to fix as well as watching the other teams and seeing what they did last season and seeing how they’re doing now.” Additionally, the team bonds in various ways on and off the field. Senior Tight End/Defensive Lineman Aidan Guilbeau says, “…going out to eat with players and coaches, and going to Hubert, we connect off the field.”
With new and incoming players, Coach Smith describes the team as, “Young. Very, very young.” As the team adapts to its new coaches and players, they are finding new ways to properly put the pieces together to be successful. With a new offense and defense, the Allatoona football team plans on being an overall tougher and improved team. Coach Smith says, “We want to be a group of kids who play not only together but for each other.”
