Day One: Matanzas, Flagler Palm Coast football teams shift from summer workouts to preseason practice

The transition was smooth for the Pirates and Bulldogs who meet on the field on Aug. 21.

  • Palm Coast Observer
  • Sports
  • Share

High School football is back. Preseason practice began July 27 with kickoff classics just a couple of weeks away, and the season-opening Flagler County Potato Bowl scheduled for Aug. 21 at Flagler Palm Coast.

But football never really went away. Matanzas, FPC and other teams around the state have been working hard throughout the summer, in the weight room and conditioning on the field, traveling to team camps and competing in 7-on-7 tournaments.

“It’s been a very, very easy transition because of everything that we do over the summer,” FPC coach Patrick Turner said. “I think it puts our kids in position so that there was not really an adjustment on the first day.”

Instead of installing the offenses and defenses, Matanzas coach Matt Forrest said, the first week of preseason practice is an opportunity for the players to show how far they have come in the offseason.

“For a team that graduated 20 seniors, I feel like that our group is experienced,” Forrest said. “I know it might not be on-the-field experience, but I feel like our guys have worked really hard in the offseason with installs and just being in the playbook constantly. In the summer, we changed up our routine to incorporate some different things to be able to start our install earlier than we ever have. I think our guys committing to learning the offense and the defense kind of on their own time has really been a cool maturation process to see.”

At FPC, not only were position groups shifting seamlessly on the first day of practice, the coaches were shifting with them.

“We don't have a specific JV staff or a separate staff for varsity and JV,” Turner said. “So all of our guys coach everybody. So if I coach the quarterbacks, I coach the ninth, the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade quarterbacks, and every [coach] that has a position does the exact same thing. … So, we give as much attention to the JV as we do the varsity.”

Matanzas produced a record-breaking offense last year, amassing 3,862 yards. But the Pirates graduated their quarterback and top four receivers. However, they return four of their five starting offensive linemen as well as 1,000-yard rusher Wiley Conner.

“It's no secret that our offense doesn't perform the way it did last year without that offensive line,” Forrest said. “So, I’m excited to have those guys back. I think we still got a good complement of players around them.”


NEW QUARTERBACKS

The Potato Bowl will feature two first-year starting quarterbacks. But FPC has its starter set in junior Bobby Starr, while Matanzas has a four-way battle with returning junior Cole Hardy; junior Michael McDonough, a transfer from Seabreeze; and incoming freshmen Devin Davis and Carter Ascone.

“After day one, It's a four-man race, so we'll obviously figure that out in [preseason] camp," Forrest said. "And we'll have a more definite rotation going into the [kickoff classic] Seabreeze week, but right now, all four can play it. All four have confidence. All four are talented. So, it's about, who takes control of the offense better, who makes the least mistakes, who is more efficient in the reps they're getting.”


It’s been a very, very easy transition because of everything that we do over the summer. I think it puts our kids in position so that there was not really an adjustment on the first day.”
—PATRICK TURNER, FPC coach

Turner said the Bulldogs’ offseason workouts were fueled by a 26-25 loss to Fleming Island in FPC’s final game of the season.

“Since we ended with a bad taste in our mouth in that last game, the offseason was tremendous,” Turner said. “The buy-in has been great. I'm just really excited about everybody that's here and been putting in the work.”

Forrest said the Pirates had their best spring practice and their best first day of preseason practice in his six years as the Pirates’ head coach.

“Everyone knows what's going on by this point,” he said. “Our effort's been there, our attention to detail, obviously, can always get better. We’re really close to being what I envisioned when I took the job six years ago: guys that play for each other, the culture of outworking people and showing up every day and just those little things that make a football team fun to coach.”  

 

×

Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning local news.