Putting in extra work

By Gene Schallenberg
Staff Reporter

August 03, 2008 01:19 am

— While the summer can be a time to kick back and relax, the Sam Houston State football team did not see it that way. The Bearkats have been hard at work during the offseason so that they would be in top form when it came time to report for fall camp.
The Bearkats remembered how after a rough start in the 2007 season, they righted the ship and won their last five games.
Last season, there were newcomers to starting positions and it took a while for the Kats to get comfortable with one another. Now, with plenty of game experience under their belts, the Kats are looking to continue that winning streak and hope to contend for a conference championship after finishing as runner-up in each of the past two seasons.
“I think having that experience together on the field is going to help us a lot because now we know what to expect from each other and how we react to different situations,” cornerback Wonseleh Brewer said after a voluntary weight-lifting session on Friday. “We know how to play together more. I’m real excited. I can’t wait for us to strap up. I don’t want to finish second place again.”
The Bearkats have spent much of the summer working on a number of drills to stay conditioned.
“We just came out here and worked hard,” said strong safety Colby Lange on Friday. “We did a lot of different drills. We played 7-on-7, ran 110 sprints and we also had different programs where we worked on speed and agility. We mixed it up in order to keep our bodies right. We worked at a fast pace. We kept the tempo up.”
“We didn’t just come out here and do our mandatory lifts. There were a lot of people who came just came out here and lifted extra just to be even more prepared for camp and for our opponents,” Brewer said.
Lange also said there were a lot of offseason activities that brought the players closer as a team.
“There were different things where we would just go to places together,” he said. “From the time that I’ve been here, I can tell there is much more communication. A lot of people were here during the summer, so that helped out a lot. I’ve also spent a lot of the time just learning from the people that have been here. The extra work, it helps out a lot.”
But the players aren’t the only ones that are looking forward to reporting to camp.
“Definitely everyone is excited about starting fall camp,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. “With less than four weeks to go before the season opener, it’s going to be a busy time.”
The Bearkats will open fall camp with a team meeting tonight. The first practice will be held Monday at 3:30 p.m. at Bowers Stadium. Sam Houston State opens the 2008 schedule on Aug. 28 hosting East Central Oklahoma.