By MIKE BROWN Sports Writer on Aug 12, 2013, at 9:50 AM Updated on 8/12 at 10:05 AM
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
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Clouds overhead mean there will be little moonlight as Rejoice Christian School opens preseason football drills at 6 a.m. Monday.
Players, coaches and trainers arrive in a collection of trucks, jeeps, minivans and other vehicles at the school’s practice facility, 12200 E. 86th Street North in Owasso.
All is in near total darkness, but senior quarterback Taylor Wise doesn’t mind the early hour.
“It’s my fourth season coming back, and we have summer conditioning from 7 to 8 in the morning, so I’m kind of getting used to it,” he says.
The Eagles are continuing a tradition of starting preseason drills as early as any Oklahoma high school that didn’t begin at 12:01 a.m.
That tradition started when current head coach Albert Kemp and a few others started the private-school program seven years ago.
“Back then, all of the coaches were lay coaches and had jobs other than football,” says Kemp, who operates a welding and fabricating shop in Nowata. “So we would start practice early in the mornings so we could still get to work.”
He’s not likely to change things as long as the Eagles keep winning. They went 11-2 and reached the Class B semifinals last year, there first season of being eligible for the OSSAA-sanctioned playoffs.
“If it’s not broken, I don’t like to fix it,” Kemp says.
Has he had any complaints?
“Only from my wife when the alarm goes off at 4 or 4:30 (a.m.),” he says with a chuckle.
Light is starting to filter through the clouds as Kemp goes through an introduction and preliminary talk with the players.
Practice starts with a lap around the field, followed by stretching exercises and a few conditioning drills.
A straggler arrives late and is ordered to do penance by running two laps.
Rejoice has about 20 out for football. That’s fewer than last season, but many of the key players return.
Running back Jace Sanchez, who rushed for 1,283 yards and 23 touchdowns last season, will again have seasoned blockers in front of him. Kason Kemp and Tyler Chanley return at guard and Noah Strickland is ready to replace graduated standout Corey Bolger at center.
"It's great having them doing the dirty work up front," Sanchez says. "Last year was exciting because we knew what we could do but nobody else thought we could do it and we have to prove it to people."
Sanchez said he tried an early Sunday night bedtime, "but it was hard to fall asleep because I was so excited about getting back out here."
-- Mike Brown
