TEXARKANA - Student-athletes from three local schools, as well as all across the states of Texas and Arkansas, reported to the opening day of fall football camps at their respective high schools Monday.
All schools in Arkansas were able to have opening day of football practice, as well as Texas schools from Class 4A and down. Class 5A, including Texas High, and 6A schools have a month wait before fall training may begin.
Arkansas High, Pleasant Grove and Liberty-Eylau had good numbers out for the first day of practice.
Arkansas High
Head coach Barry Norton is back at the helm for the Razorbacks. There were 65 players, which just included grades 11 and 12, report to practice.
"We are just bringing them in slowly at the moment," Norton said. "We are figuring out when to get junior varsity and ninth grade in. We are making sure to keep everyone out of the locker rooms. The numbers were good today, and the kids were excited to get back; we (coaching staff) were excited to get back.
"I did not anticipate us starting back up. I didn't think they'd announce Friday that we would be starting on Monday. The last few months have not been fun so getting back out here makes everything better."
The Razorbacks begin season ranked No. 3 in Class 5A state poll and open the season Friday, Aug. 28 hosting Paris, Texas.
Pleasant Grove
Across the state line at Pleasant Grove, head coach Josh Gibson was filled with excitement during the first day of practice. The Hawks had 106 players report.
"We saw the best numbers that we've had within the last seven years," Gibson said. "We are expecting more, and that number could get to 112-120 kids. Across the state, we have three or four good weeks of strength and conditioning at the beginning and then everything got shut down again. We got back to strength and conditioning, so considering there was a break, we are really happy with the shape the kids are in.
"I'm proud of where our kids are, and I think they looked pretty good."
Pleasant Grove won the 4A Division II state championship last season and looks to defend its title. The Hawks kick off the regular season at Nashville on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Liberty-Eylau
Dewaski Davis was named head football coach and athletic director during the offseason for the Leopards.
"Well, they responded well to everything we threw at them," Davis said. "We feel good where we're at right now. Everybody came early like we asked. The mood was a lot better. They were upbeat as well. It was a win-win for everybody today."
The Leopards had 90 student-athletes participate in organized team activities.
"We're going to continue with our morning schedule," Davis said. "We start around 7:30 a.m. We work on offense, defense and special teams, during the course of a full-day of practice."
The Leopards have no reported positive cases of coronavirus within their athletic department.
"We've been making sure our kids follow all procedures and guidelines," Davis said. "We're disinfecting lockers and also checking temperatures as they come in. We're just trying to take every precaution we can, so our kids will be safe. We're not taking anything for granted."
The Leopards open the season Friday, Aug. 28 hosting Henderson at Harris Field.