Wolverines back at it on the gridiron, bouncing back from long layoff

Published: 05/14/2008

By William Bretherton
Cherokee Tribune Sports Writer

The Woodstock football team began full-pad practice Monday, and will try to improve upon last season's 5-5 campaign.

With this being the first week of full-contact practice, the team is shaking off the rust from a long layoff since November.

"I feel good about (spring practice)," Woodstock coach Mike O'Brien said. "We're at least flying around and hitting people. We're not where we need to be all the time, and we're not always hitting people where we need to be, but we are attacking the line."

Before their full-pad workouts, the Wolverines players were waking up before sunrise to work out in the weight room and do other conditioning drills starting at 6:30 a.m.

Once Woodstock got onto the field, the Wolverines' offense focused their practice on the I-formation and the shotgun. On defense, Woodstock will be using a twist on the 5-2 setup. Senior Ryan Tweedle will be playing the role of a "down end." The "down end" acts as a tackle, but consistently stays on the outside of the defensive line, towards the strong side of the line.

The Wolverines are implementing this system as a means of defending against the option that many offenses will be using this upcoming season. The Wolverines will be returning four starters on defense including two key linebackers in Corey Carmichael and Alex Polasky.

Shawn Haley and Drew Shields, who recently wrapped up their season with the Woodstock baseball team, are now practicing full-time with the football team and will be the primary focus in the secondary.

While spring practice allows the coaches to introduce new twists to their playbooks and refocus their players on the ways of the old system, the practice sessions allow the players a chance to get their hits on defense and make plays on offense.

"It's great," Carmichael said. "Once you get in there, it's a big relief because when you are in school, you are sitting there wanting to hit somebody."

Carmichael said it will be even better in the fall when he can lay hits on the opposition.

With this being the first week of practice in full pads, the defense gains somewhat of an advantage over the offense due to the lack of playing time the offense has had over the offseason at full game speed.

"The defense is ahead of (the offense) for sure," O'Brien said. "They're making some mistakes, too, so we are getting them ironed out."

The Wolverines will use multiple formations on offense. While using multiple formations will take more time to learn over the spring and summer, it will give defenses fits in the fall as they have less than a week to prepare.

As a two-year starter, senior quarterback Taylor Trotter has helped the Wolverines progress through springs like this as he has been through three others like it.

"I definitely think that I will have an advantage as this is my third year starting," Trotter said. "You definitely work on the mechanics in the spring. You always want to stay sharp, and want to be in and out of your drops. Every year, you've got to re-learn how things are and adjust."

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