Players prepare for season

Most Awesome Blossom football fans expect the 2015 season to be one of rebuilding. But don’t tell the players that. After participating in a camp at Southwest State University and practicing in captains’ practice last week, the team is enthused about football and the prospects for the upcoming season.
As Anthony Nelson commented, “I think we will surprise some people, and that is our main goal as we prepare for the opener against Rushford-Peterson.” In the camp at Marshall, the boys attending thought they held their own pretty well against several bigger schools.  The three-day event offered several scrimmages, after the first day devoted itself to fundamental exercises.
The boys practiced three times daily; with shoulder pads alone, and the leadership provided contests of all sorts.  In a Big Man contest, for example, Ethan Strunk, Camden Heimerman, and Mitchell Oswald took second place, and the team finished third in a King of the Hill competition.
I thought the boys held their own pretty well”, remarked assistant Coach Nathan Piller.  Our offense had a little trouble getting into a rhythm, but the defense looked pretty good.” 
Aside from the first day’s practice, no time went into teaching fundamentals, and all the drills featured whole teams or small group contests.  A full-scale scrimmage and a seven-on-seven competition offered a little variety to the proceedings.  The boys stayed in the university dorm and ate at the university cafeteria.  Even the coaches got a taste of dorm life over the three days in attendance.
At the week of captains’ practices, the group spent a big portion of the time with learning plays, doing pass receiving drills and generally worked to get into game shape.  The team began full practice yesterday.  “It has been a good week of practice”, commented Jon Hatch, and things have gone pretty well.”  Nelson added, “ I think we can definitely surprise some teams.  Prospective quarterback Lucas Noble said, “We will probably go as far as the defense can take us.  We should be very good on the defensive side of the ball, and I hope the offense can improve a lot as the season goes along.”  
Hatch will take his accustomed spot as running back on offense and outside linebacker on defense, and Nelson handles the wide receiver position on offense and free safety on defense. The players know that they have some very big shoes to fill with the loss of quarterback John Rumpza and all-around athlete Cole Sunde, plus other 2014 stars, but the current crop of Blossoms maintain that this will not be a losing season, if they have anything to say about it.  Fans can hope the players’ enthusiasm is justified.