If you have driven by the Scott High School Athletic Complex you may have noticed the Skyhawks at work. Don’t get exited just yet, we still have most of the summer to go before the football season gets here. The work that Coach Shane Griffith and his team are doing is off-season work. What we call off-season work is what Coach Griffith calls the Skyhawks Power and Balance Program. For two weeks the team comes together to work on football fundamentals, agilities, weightlifting and the basics of team execution.

Coach Griffith has high expectations for this upcoming season. “I think it would be wrong to not continue to push beyond the accomplishments of the past…we expect to win and we expect to make the playoffs,” he said. Coach Griffith’s Skyhawks are a little undersized. Griffith says that they make up for it with explosive style reps in the weight room and particularly a positive attitude. “Attitude outweighs our talent,” he said. The Skyhawks also make up for size with team speed, possessing 11 players that have been clocked at less than 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash and two of them are linemen.

Some of the returning impact skill players include Randy Bishop, Tyler Thompson, and Shane Butcher. This years Skyhawk team also sports a pre-season all-American running back in Jordan Roberts. Last year Roberts piled up over 2,000 rushing yards and somewhere around 30 touchdowns pacing the way to the Skyhawk’s playoff appearance. Robert’s has been invited to participate in a High School All-American Football game to be played in Jackson, Mississippi during January of 2008. Roberts was not satisfied with how last season ended (losing to Grafton ending the bid for the state championship) while he played injured with a high ankle sprain. “I wasn’t myself, I just couldn’t play on it,” he said. Roberts also said, “This years team is solid… because we have lots of experience and dedication.”

I look for a big season from Jordan Roberts, anyone would, after all, when one looks at the numbers that he posted last season and figure in these three factors, one, he has gained over 20 pounds, two, he is a step or two faster than he was last season, and three, he is more determined than ever, he is a solid football player.

Some of the returning veterans include linemen Aaron Thompson, Eric Price, and Dennis Roberts. Aaron Thompson, a junior, captain, and returning starter says, “Falling short in the playoffs last year has made me determined and dedicated than ever, besides these two weeks, many of us are here strength training at 6:00 AM on a daily basis. I think we can go 14-0 and be state champs.” When I asked Thompson what team he would most like to defeat, he replied “Bluefield.”

Other up and coming impact players include Ryan Price (RB), Billy Aldridge (TE), and Dean Eggenschwiller (LB). Dean says “I am getting myself ready for August, it’s just the basics for now, but now I’ll be ready for the advanced strategy and techniques come the beginning of the season.” As for now, the Skyhawks are hard at work, already preparing for a season with high expectations. The Skyhawks Power and Balance program should prove to have positive results…Though it is only two weeks long, the knowledge and experience gained here by the athletes last much, much longer. The Skyhawks start their season on the road at Roane County on August 24th and the home opener is scheduled for one week later when the Skyhawks will host Wyoming East on September 1st.