ONALASKA – For the first time this fall on Saturday, the pads were put on and the Onalaska High School football team woke up at 7 a.m. to ring in the contact portion of practice.
Several contact and team drills were put in place as head coach Mazen Saade drilled into his group of 40-plus some vital components.
From scheme to offensive plays, the Loggers wasted little time in preparation for their season opener against Class 1A power Nooksack Valley.
“We’re going to put the ball in the hands of guys that can make plays,” Saade said.
Here are three takeaways from the two-hour session.
Line play a rollercoaster
In the trenches is where Onalaska is replacing the most off a 2B state semifinal run. The offensive line has one starter back and other guys challenging for reps.
Through blocking drills and offense versus defense, there were some noticeable growing pains in terms of pulls and assignments missed.
Still, there is no panic button being pressed.
“We are in the process of learning and getting better,” Justin Jacoby said. “We have to be able to reload.”
On the defensive line, just in one drill, they generated plenty of movement. One key could be edge rusher Justice Miller, a star sprinter for the Loggers track team.
Quarterback battle
Gone is Kayden Mozingo, the all-area quarterback that scored 32 touchdowns for the Loggers last fall. The two that are expected to take the majority of snaps under center and in the pistol are Blaze Underhill and Lane Gordon.
Regardless of who is taking snaps, both of them will be on the field at the same time.
“We’ll play the best 11 guys every snap,” Underhill said.
Attention to detail
Saade and his staff had no issue yelling and calling out mistakes as soon as they happened. At least twice, the longtime football leader and new AD at Onalaska yelled out the phrase “little things” at his players.
To them, they know those two words can make a difference in a game-like setting.
“You gotta play hard,” senior running back Rodrigo Raodriguez said. “It doesn’t just come to you, you gotta work.”
