Clear Creek ends two weeks of spring football practice
Clear Creek Middle School wrapped up spring football practice, and the Bobcats will not be sneaking up on any opponents this season.
Head coach Willie Dodaro and staff put rising seventh and eighth graders through two weeks of teaching and fundamental work, which concluded last Friday.
Both groups were crowned league champions of their previous grade division a season ago, and Dodaro said all 77 players made it through the 10 days of practice.
“We’re going to have a target on our back big time this season,” Dodaro said.
“We have 45 upcoming seventh graders and 32 eighth graders. It’s really cool to see how many kids have decided to take an interest in football. Over the two weeks, we didn’t lose any kids, and that was a success for us as well. We’re really pleased with that.”
One objective for CCMS was to “get better for the high school,” Dodaro noted. In the opening week, Gilmer High head coach Paul Standard and his staff spent the first three days with CCMS teaching and installing the principles of the program.
“We’re getting stronger and better at getting all the details they need to have at the high school so we can make sure they know the terminology, correct stances and how all the things are taught to them during spring. It also gives us coaches a refresher course as well and helps us prepare for the rest of the season,” Dodaro said.
“We did some Oklahoma drills on the last day and did some seventh grade against the eighth grade. We were real pleased to see them compete and battle against each other.”
CCMS football players lift weights throughout the entire school year and during the summer. They deploy the same scripts, workouts and percentages used by strength coordinator Jeff Nelson at GHS.
In June, CCMS players will lift weights and practice three days per week. Following the mandated dead week in July, the Bobcats will host a lineman challenge and 7-on-7 passing competition.
“Middle school will be a little more highly competitive as players get better and older, but that puts a little pressure on us to keep that rolling,” Dodaro said of the upcoming seventh graders. “We’re very pleased as they have come in well prepared.”
Dodaro added, “The biggest problem is we seem to do well in seventh grade, but when we get to eighth grade things change. Everybody is going to be after us. We just went through last season undefeated (same as the seventh grade did in 2021). We need to keep getting better in the weight room and at practice. We need to listen and be drilled a lot more and concentrate on what we need to do to become a better football team.
“In our league, you have to be prepared every time because you never know who is going to catch you.”