ATHOL — High School football is officially upon us.
The Athol High School football program took to the practice field on Friday morning to commence the start of the 2018 season. The team practiced for two hours starting at 9 a.m.
“There’s anticipation, there’s anticipation, there’s anticipation and then finally it’s here and it’s a wonderful feeling,” said Athol head coach Bill LaRose. “Get back on the field with the kids, get the kids thinking about football and couldn’t ask for anything more in late August.”
The team broke into three different groups, first team (which consisted of mostly varsity players), second team and third team (mostly freshman). Each team practiced basic huddle drills and executing specific plays. The team practiced the quick pitch, which consists of the quarterback tossing the ball underhand to the running back, who then ran the ball out wide. The team also practiced a quick, one step pass to the middle of the field numerous times.
“I think it’s going to be a really good year,” said senior running back Mason Barrieau. “We’re running a different offense and coach wants it to be all faster and I just think it goes really well with the team that we have.”
Several key returnees were out on the field for practice. Along with Barrieau, Keegan Lutz, who filled in at quarterback last year after an injury to the team’s starter Nicholas Bousquet, was in attendance, as well as senior Tim Soucie and Dylan Castine as just some of the returning players.
Lutz practiced underneath center, but also saw time in the backfield and out wide in a receiver-type role. Several players practiced multiple positions similarly to Lutz. One particular player who practiced outside of his typical role that stood out was Manny O’Lari. O’Lari, a defensive tackle/offensive tackle, set up in the back field several times as the full back.
“A new season always brings new challenges,” said LaRose. “You always lose a lot to graduation, so you move players around to figure out who can play where and what makes your team the best possible team you can be when it comes time to field one. I think that we have a lot of different types of options this year and we’re just looking for the best fit.”
Three different players took snaps at quarterback on Friday. Lutz took first team reps, while Ryley Paine, who was listed as a middle linebacker and offensive guard last year, took the second team reps. Caleb Cox took third team reps.
“Because they’re quarterbacks, they have to be competitive,” said LaRose. “Keegan was the go-to guy last year and I just think that each one of those guys that we worked out today has a different little skill set and we just have to figure out what we want to do as a team.”
Friday’s practice was a no contact and no pads practice. The team practices again on Saturday and then returns on Monday for a full week. Then, the team will partake in its first scrimmage on August 25 against Ludlow High School.