An Early Look at the SEOAL: The 2008 Warren Warriors

[air4ce1]

shew back from vacation and so outta shape lol...so many good restaurants down in pigeon forge. hey warrenwarriorfan do you know the teams, times, or anything about the caldwell passing scrimmage sat??? just would like to know what all is in store there. hows the lifting and conditioning turn outs? has everyone been there? cant wiat for camp tomorrow, should be fun

GO WARRIORS

[warrnwarriorfan]

air4ce1: I thought that the Caldwell scrimmage was just with Caldwell. You'll know more than me after tonight. Make sure you drink lots of fluids today. It's going to be hot, hot, hot!

[BigBlueinsider]

Wellspring will not be playing this season. Huge loss . . .

warrnwarriorfan: Wellspring will be playin in the last 5 games if he can get a 2.0 at interim reports. and depending on when theya re posted..possibly the last 6.

first day of camp went well. it was cut 10 minutes short due to the weather. SIGH.
special teams looks like it could be good again with riffeys son coaching them. the Oline will be coahced by Smith and the riffeys. thats a big plus.

cant wait for season.

[Cap'n Scoop]

I saw the team headed out to the field for camp. Looked like a lot of big strong kids for a change. Goodluck Warriors.

[warrnwarriorfan]

Yup, it was great to see Seth Wellspring at camp. It will be great for the team to have him participating, and I think it's good for him to participate. Good to see David Wellspring at camp too. He was a beast when he was younger. Everyone expected to be there is there. Too bad about the kids that were dinged by grades, but life goes on. Hopefully it will be a wake-up call and we'll see them next year. Even with that, there was no drama this year about participation like there was even last year. The team will be dominated by upperclassmen in a way that the team hasn't experienced for a while.

The team maxed on the bench press yesterday and they are, as a whole, much, much stronger than teams have been in recent memory.

The 8th graders are at the camp and they have an excellent group, including a couple transfers from Fed Hock and some brand new players. The future of the program continues to look bright. The Jr. High will be strong this year.

Overall, things seem pretty positive.

[air4ce1]

warrenwarriorfan...is ellenwood not practicing w/the quarterbacks??? because i know that wolfe has said he isnt ready to be full time quarterback and really would prefer to run the ball so that only leaves hilverding who is only a sophmore...just thinking out loud

[warrnwarriorfan]

All present and accounted for at camp last night. The enthusiasm is at a completely different level this year. WOW! The players are enjoying entering the season and actually knowing the system. That will be a huge benefit this year. The key will be the line on both sides of the ball. Can't wait until the first scrimmage to see how we do in the trenches.

air4ce1: Yeah, Ellenwood is with the quarterbacks. Last night Ellenwood, Hilverding, the Freshman Lambert, and 8th grader Leffingwell were taking snaps. Wolfe was settled in at FB all evening, but I imagine he'll work at QB some more. It is a position that requires depth in the roster.

Dunfee has been working at RB with Pritt and Coffman at WB. Justin Pettit will produce where ever he plays. Throw Wellspring in the mix somewhere during the season. Cox and Venham (still hurt) will be the best set of WRs that we've had at Warren for a long time. Everyone should be excited about Tyler Cox this year. He is maturing fast. A little known fact about Tyler is that he actually could easily be a JR as he only recently turned 16. He will surprise some folks this year.

Our line will look a bit different this year with 6'5" Cody Alfred and 6'4" Eric Hoon participating. I guess they both are in the 230-240 pound range. We actually have a bit of "beef" this year. Add Lemon, Fulton, Weekly, Johnson, Wellspring (David), and Arbuckle to the mix and they have the potential to much better up front.

[warrnwarriorfan]

Good looking, deeper group of linemen this year. I want to mention the Sophomore Nathan Greathouse. He is in camp this year at 6'3" 270lbs. The biggest lineman that Warren has had in several years, and by all accounts he is strong and getting stronger. Can't wait to see how he will perform with the pads on. Warren will have some beef in the trenches this year for sure. So, the line has the potential to be much improved. At 7 on 7 practice during camp last night everything was clicking better than I've seen in a while. Good throws, and some really nice catches. Receivers will be the best in years, and lots of talent available to carry the ball. The kicking game will be solid with Venham. The QB position look likes it will come down to Ellenwood and Hilverding. Hopefully these two players can push each other to make the QB position an asset this year.

Very good camp this week. 7 on 7 with Caldwell tomorrow. They performed very well at the Nelsonville tourney, so this will be a nice work out for the Warriors.

[schenk11]

Saw Greathouse at Mcdonald's with his dad. He is a big boy. Comes from good stock too. To bad he is not a Tiger like his dad was.

[warrnwarriorfan]

The Warriors traveled up I77 this morning to play Caldwell in 7on7. Caldwell had finished 2nd in the Nelsonville 7on7 tournament a couple weeks ago, so the team was expecting a real challenge (especially since Warren had finished 9th at Nelsonville). Warren had not had the opportunity to practice much before Nelsonville, so they were hoping to show some improvement since they had been in camp all week. They did improve. In fact, Warren looked very, very good. I didn't keep exact score, and it is always difficult to tell who is rotating in and out, but I'm pretty sure that Warren's first team outscored Caldwell's first team by a couple TDs. Ellenwood took the majority of the snaps and threw for 5 TDs with no interceptions. Hilverding threw for one TD and only 1 interception. Caldwell had a similar number of TDs, but most of them were scored against Warren's second team defense. Caldwell had 3 QBs and each of them threw at least 1 TD (the first string QB threw a couple). The Caldwell QBs threw 2 interceptions. Today was the best that I have seen Warren play in a 7on7 for some time. Cox caught 3 TDs, Dunfee and Wolfe had one, and someone else had another (sorry, can't remember who it was).

It was a good day for Warren football.

[LoveSponge425]

Any more talk about Wolfe playing QB ???

[warrnwarriorfan]

Nope. I think he has settled in at fullback. He'll be a beast there this season.

[warrnwarriorfan]

JRs and SRs received equipment last night, SOs and FRs tonight. The team has Wednesday off, then 2-a-days begin on Thursday. They can't actually go full contact until next Wednesday. Hilverding is having problems with his throwing shoulder and has been for a couple weeks. Hopefully this time off will help him out. Turns out Venham does not have shin-splints, but some issues with his tendons. That's actually good news. But, the doctor is still saying it might be 2-3 more weeks. Hopefully he'll get to return faster than that. Everyone else is healthy.

It will be interesting to see how things sort-out after the pads are on. Lot's and lot's of enthusiasm. So far, so good.

[warrnwarriorfan]

Stopped by practice for a bit tonight and have the following observations:

1) Nice group of linemen. Bigger than we've had in several years. We also have a bit of depth, but just a bit.
2) Very, very solid backfield with lots of experience. Good size, good speed. Right now it looks like Wolfe, Dunfee and Pritt are going to lead the way. Wellspring will be around the 5th or 6th game.
3) Should give a nod to SO Brian Hendrix who may see minutes at offensive guard. He works hard and can help out.
4) Ellenwood is working with the first string at QB, but Hilverding looks good too. These are the only QBs working out right now. I'm sure they will have to bring someone else along during the season.
5) Strongest looking team that I've seen at Warren in years.
6) Good enthusiasm.
7) The only negative comment I have is actually what I did not see. Warren could have had 60 players for the first time in a long time, but with 15 kids ineligible and not playing we are pretty much where we have been in terms of participation. Not a lot of upperclassmen missing, but it would have been nice to have those kind of numbers moving through the program.

One other thing . . . they were running plays (very well) which is something that a Warren team really hasn't been able to do the first day of practice in a few years. It is good to have continuity in the coaching staff for a change.

Good first day.

[warrnwarriorfan]

Kids that are getting work as pre-contact starters:

OFFENSE:
TE-Hoon
OT-Greathouse
OG-Johnson
C-Alfred
OG-Arbuckle
OT-Lemon
WR-Cox
FB-Wolfe
TB-Dunfee
WB-Pritt
QB-Ellenwood

DEFENSE:
DE-Alfred
OT-Lemon
OT-Fulton
DE-Hoon
WLB-Ellenwood
MLB-Wolfe
SLB-Pritt
CB-Cox
FS-Dunfee
SS-Coffman
CB-Yokum

Obviously, this doesn't mean much since they haven't put on the pads yet. Weekly will be the mix somewhere. Venham will get to start practicing next week, although he'll have take it easy. He'll work his way into the rotation somewhere. Lot's of players going both ways. But, several players will be there to give them a break.

Freshmen notes: The Freshman Joey Lane is big kid and strong. He could get some productive minutes this year. Henthorn is back from vacation and practicing. He had an excellent season last year in Jr. High. Fivecoait is pushing 6 feet tall and has a big body. He has the potential to be very good if he hits the weights. Harlow is also an excellent player who may get some minutes this year.

The JV should be quite good this year.

Had a new upperclassman player (lineman) out for practice but not sure of his name or status.

Is anyone else out there?

[air4ce1]

switch wolfe and pritt around and everyhting else looks about right. right now though it doesn't mean much. contact starts TOMORROW!!!!!

[warrnwarriorfan]

Ace: Should I switch them on offense or defense?

[schenk11]

contact starts TOMORROW!!!!!

Contact not permitted until Wednesday, only "incidental" contact tomorrow.

[C4PITTS]

Weekley HAS to be more than in the mix....should be a starter some where on that line and surely ahead of Alfred or Greathouse. He also caused and recovered the fumble that turned the game around at Belpre last year.

What about David Wellspring ?????

Hoon at tight end ????? I think that will change to Tackle when Weekley is in the starting lineup. Cox or Venham might be better fits for the tight end slot or even Ellenwood if Hilvey can Q.B..

Should be an interesting year, good potential but you know what they say about potential.

The biggest ? mark IMO are the Coaches, hopefully we can expect to see the same improvement in them as we do the Players.

Good to be talking Football again !!!!!

Go Warriors !!!!!

[warrnwarriorfan]

C4: This is the same group of coaches, but things seem much different this year. For example, the players are meeting with the coaching staff for an hour everyday for "chalk talks" before they go on the field. That didn't happen last year. In addition, speaking from the perspective of my kid, they are working much, much more on reads, they are running more options, and they will also be calling audibles. Since it's the second year they seem to moving beyond the basics. The coaching is much more detailed. You're right, the proof is in the pudding, but I'm starting to feel sorta positive about what they are doing with the kids.

As for the players, I only posted the list above to let folks know what's been happening at practice. It doesn't mean anything until they start contact.