With the first week of football camp coming to a close on Friday, Montezuma-Cortez head coach Dave Wagner explained how he viewed the two-week camp as a starting point for the Panthers’ 2015 season.
“We’re going to get the base in,” he said. “Install a basic offense and a basic defense.”
Wagner and his staff went about the task by breaking things down for the 40-plus players congregated at Panther Stadium.
First, each day was dedicated to either offensive or defensive work. Players separated into position groups for individual drills to begin. Then, to finish the day, they were brought together to run through the sets as a team.
The camp geared up slowly, with players wearing only helmets on Monday and Tuesday, adding shoulder pads on Wednesday and peaking on Thursday and Friday with full pads and full contact scheduled.
The second week of camp starts Monday at noon, but instead of arriving at the field each day for a few hours, players will stay overnight at the old high school.
M-CHS coaches hope to build cohesion among the players by scheduling team-building activities and a movie night.
But it won’t be a holiday.
Conditioning is scheduled each morning at 5:30 a.m., and the entire week will be full pads and full contact.
Receivers and defensive backs coach Kirby Case sees the camp as a proving ground for the athletes planning to suit up for the Panthers this fall.
“Everybody is fighting for their position,” Case said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. Everyone has got to earn it.”
The overnight camp ends Thursday, but the final camp event is scheduled for Friday, when the Panthers will head east for a scrimmage against Durango High School.
“I’m looking at the scrimmage as a regular season game,” said Wagner. “I want to go there and beat Durango.”