UPDATE: Football 2009: Live at Archbishop Murphy High

Published 7:14 pm Wednesday, August 19, 2009

7:05 p.m.

My computer battery was used up so I left Archbishop Murphy and drove home. But now that my laptop has some juice again, here is my final post of the day.

I talked to Archbishop Murphy senior Alex Martinez in between his team’s two practice sessions this evening. A few of his comments really stuck with me. Even though the running back/safety is beginning his fourth year of varsity football, he battled nerves going into today’s season-opening practice.

“I was nervous. For the 10 years I’ve been playing football, this season is what it comes down to,” Martinez said. “This is it. If I can’t perform, then that’s it for me playing football.”

That type of urgency, desire and enthusiasm inspires many of the coaches and players that I saw today. It sort of sets the tone for the upcoming season.

Look for The Herald’s 2009 high school football preview sections on Sept. 2 and 3. We’ll give you an inside look at key teams and players to watch, as well as team capsules, coaches’ predictions and full schedules.

*****

6:15 p.m.

Two-a-nights

For the first time in his lengthy coaching career, coach Dave Ward decided to start the season with two-a-days in the evening.

Murphy’s first practice today was from 3-5 p.m. Then players took a 30-minute break, refueling with fruit, healthy popsicles and liquids. After that, they began the second practice session, which is scheduled to go until 7 p.m.

Ward said he got the idea from Auburn High football coach Gordon Elliott when they talked at a coaches convention in January. The evening format keeps players focused, Ward said, and prevents them from having to drive back and forth for a morning practice and an afternoon or evening practice.

*****

5:57 p.m.

Bad news for the Wildcats

Randy Gordon was going to be a key two-way starter for Archbishop Murphy. But the junior found out Tuesday that he will miss the entire season.

Gordon, a RB/LB who started as a sophomore, was injured on the last day of Murphy’s team camp this summer in Wenatchee. Gordon saw five different doctors, seeking different opinions in an attempt to save his junior season. But the docs all recommended surgery.

So Gordon, wearing a large protective boot and doing his best to stay positive, will have surgery on his foot on Friday. He will be out six months.

It’s a big loss for the team, which already had less depth than last season, coach Dave Ward said.

*****

5:35 p.m.

Football players on a baseball field?

Yep, that’s what I see here at Archbishop Murphy, where the Wildcats are warming up for their second practice session of the evening. The team is working out on the school’s artificial turf baseball field because the newly planted grass on the football field (on the opposite end of campus) still needs time to grow.

Several dozen burly football players would trample those seedlings pretty quick, right?

Archbishop Murphy head coach Dave Ward said he is happy with how the first session (3-5 p.m.) went today. There was plenty of continuity from what the Wildcats achieved during a busy summer.

“It’s kind of funny. With June camps and July camps, things just kind of flow together now and we’re able to almost pick up where we left off,” Ward said.

“It’s not like the old days where you had to start with some real basic fundamentals,” he added. “We fine-tune a little bit and … if we put in a new wrinkle in the offense or defense than we really slow down and concentrate on it.”