WEST LAWN — Always enjoy dropping by a Wilson football practice, mostly to see how many kids are in uniform and how the coaching staff divvies up their time trying to tutor all of those kids at once.
Stopped by Bulldogs’ camp on Tuesday, and was immediately blown away by the 93 kids in uniform — plus a couple platoons of freshmen players on the lower field, going through drills.
Never a dull moment during a Wilson practice, with all of those kids in motion.
Tuesday’s session was a defensive practice. And if you know anything about Bulldogs’ football, you know they thrive on that side of the ball.
So d-coordinator Ernie Wolber was in heaven. What a great guy he is. And what a great staff coach Doug Dahms has assembled. It’s gotta be awesome getting 93 kids out pretty much every year. And every last one of them gets top-shelf coaching from this crew.
Some notables from Tuesday …
WHAT I SAW: A whole slew of Wilson Bulldogs in uniforms and going through drills — mostly D stuff on a sunny afternoon as summer returned to the area.
It was about 90 degrees when I stepped on the practice field, situated just outside Gurski Stadium, which is getting a major facelift.
New bleachers. New turf surface. Workers are still buzzing around in there; Dahms said everything should be ready to go before Wilson’s home opener in Week 3 against rival Reading.
Workers are also finishing off a second turf stadium adjacent to Gurski Stadium. So Wilson’s soccer, field hockey and lacrosse teams, etc., will have a new facility.
Big doings in West Lawn.
Anyway, it’s always fascinating not only to watch that many kids practice, but for the Bulldogs to go through defensive drills.
That group has led or been near the very top of total team defense in the L-L League well, it seems like forever.
But Wolber and his cohorts have a big task on their hands in this camp:
Just one starter is set to return — LB Hunter Hatlee. Now he’s a good one, and will spearhead the D. But Dahms and Wolber, at some point in the next two weeks, are going to have to sit down and handpick 10 new starters to flank Hatlee.
After kicking off practice — literally — with special teams drills (FYI: K Hunter Rubright will be a major weapon; he drilled 52-of-55 PAT kicks and booted six field goals last fall), the D split up into six or seven stations, going over everything from drive-blocking along the D line, to agility, to tackling to DB coverage and everything in between.
Here are two of the drills:
A lot of kids. A lot of great 1-on-1 coaching. And yes, despite needing 10 new starters, I got a good look at plenty of kids who are more than ready to step into those spots — they just need a little seasoning.
Dahms and Wolber both said they saw some positives from the newbies in Wilson’s scrimmage on Saturday at Parkland.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Wilson reloads. I’m quite sure they’ll have 10 new D kids raring and ready to go August 30 when the Bulldogs open the season at rival Governor Mifflin.
From the drills I saw Tuesday, it’s no wonder this is annually one of the best defenses in the L-L League and District 3 — new kids or not.
Didn’t see a lot of offense on this day. While the D kids were going through their paces, QB Matt Timochenko — one of three returning regulars, along with Hatlee and OT Madison Woodward — was working on tosses and pitch-outs with his backs. Pretty simple stuff, but reps and solid practice time, considering he’ll be tossing and pitching to a whole new fleet of backs.
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: Plenty of enthusiasm from this group; when this many starting jobs are up for grabs, you not only need to be on your best behavior, but you need to impress your position coach, your coordinator and Dahms, who stuck his head in on every drill and got a front-row look at every kid at every station. He’s watching.
Again, a simply fascinating practice. Tons going on. Plenty of hustle. Plenty of sweat and hard work. I’d never rank the practices I’ve been to over the years, but this practice — heck, pretty much any Wilson practice — is right there near the top.
TAKEAWAY: Wilson brings a 36-game L-L League Section 1 winning streak into 2013. The Bulldogs have won the last five section crowns in a row with undefeated records. They’ll go for No. 6 this fall — yes, with just those three starters returning.
Several bullet points …
1. Wilson opens up on the road against archrival Governor Mifflin, which is stacked. In Week 2, the Bulldogs play at Harrisburg in a rematch of last year’s District 3 Class AAAA championship game. The Cougars feature one of the best backs in the state in Rutgers recruit Rob Martin. Haven’t cranked up the old prediction machine just yet, but the Bulldogs could — could — be looking at a 0-2 getaway, and that’s before rival Reading helps christen the new Gurski Stadium in Week 3. Of course, they could also be 2-0. So ...
2. Lancaster Catholic is really good. I know the Crusaders got pushed around by Bishop McDevitt in their first scrimmage. But it was a scrimmage, and Lancaster Catholic will learn from it and move on.
3. Penn Manor has been the trendy pick to overtake Wilson and claim Section 1. But the Comets saw three vets go down with injuries in their first scrimmage against Manheim Central: Two-way stud Ethan Barley (hammy), playmaker Brett Caggiano (collarbone) and speedy RB Tyler Spangler (arm). Not saying those injuries will derail Penn Manor’s chances. But coach Todd Mealy is going to need three guys to step in and step up to replace that trio — pronto. Good news is that the Comets won’t get a crack at Wilson until Week 9 in West Lawn. That’s an eternity away, so those guys will have ample time to heal up. But Penn Manor must stay in the race so the game vs. the Bulldogs has all the marbles riding on it.
4. Regardless of what Wilson does the first few weeks, methinks the Bulldogs will be just fine come Week 4 against McCaskey in the L-L League opener. If Mifflin, Harrisburg and Reading don’t get this crew ready to go, nothing will — win or lose. Wilson will be just fine, y’all. See if the Bulldogs hang with Mifflin and Harrisburg. Better yet, see how much they improve between those two weeks, and again before the Reading game.
5. FYI: Wilson has 496 wins in program history; four more to go for 500. Manheim Central has 493 victories, so those two are racing to hit 500 first. McCaskey is the only L-L League team in the 500-win club. That should motivate Wilson, as well.
You’ll see my Section 1 prediction here any day now. The pick might surprise you. Then again, maybe it won’t.
Caught up with Dahms during Tuesday’s practice and chatted Bulldogs’ football. Take a look.