By Brian Argabright
The winds of change blew through Walter Levermann Ram Stadium Friday afternoon as the new season of Del Rio Rams football officially got underway.
Clouds and an overcast forecast created a cool and comfortable atmosphere for coaches, players and trainers on the first day of the Rams’ spring football practice. While the turnout wasn’t as large as some fans would have liked, Rams head coach Rod Taylor said he was happy to see the kids that did show up and said he was pleased with the enthusiasm he saw on day one.
“Some of these kids we haven’t seen in two years. A lot of these kids are hungry and ready to be back out here,” Taylor said.
The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out sub-varsity play in 2020, meaning many underclassmen hadn’t even practiced football since the 2019 season. Now with hopes renewed that the 2021 season will be as normal as possible, with scrimmages and a full 10-game schedule, Taylor said many of the young players who came out will need to grow up and step up quicker than usual.
Del Rio is coming off a third-place finish in District 30-6A and its first appearance in the playoffs since the 2016 season. Unfortunately, many of the playmakers from last season’s playoff team have graduated or moved on from football. That leaves a lot of holes to fill on both sides of the ball, but it also leaves plenty of opportunities for new faces to step up and contribute.
“They’re going to have to grow up quickly,” Taylor said. “This is just day one. We’ve got a long way to go until the spring game.”
Fundamentals were much of what the players at practice focused on Friday. That meant everything from learning where to line up in certain formations to just focusing on tackling form. Taylor said the plan was to gradually get everyone up to speed together so the newer players weren’t left behind by the more experienced players.
“We’re not going to go all out on the first day because then a lot of these kids won’t be back on day two. We’re going to gradually ramp things up until everyone is at the same level,” Taylor said.
Taylor said the plan is for the team to hold a couple of practices and then break the players into two different teams via a draft. Those teams would practice independent of each other before going head-to-head at the spring football game Friday, May 28 at 7 p.m. at Walter Levermann Ram Stadium. From there, the varsity team will emerge and that’s the team that will begin the 2021 season in the fall.
Spring practices will be held each weekday beginning at 4:15 p.m.
