Three days into football practice, the weather is still cooperating on local football fields. After record-high temperatures greeted high school football teams as two-a-days began last year, cooler than normal temps were on hand as the action got underway Wednesday.

“We’ve been fortunate,” Sesser-Valier-Waltonville-Woodlawn coach John Shadowens said. “We are farther along than we were at this time last year. The kids are able to stay focused and get more done.”

The cool weather is good, but can be misleading, said Benton football coach Jeremy Clodfelder.
“It’s been comfortable and very nice,” he said. “We are getting our work done and no one is in danger of overheating, really. With that being the case, we don’t have to take excessive water breaks or other breaks.

“We are constantly on the go.”

Clodfelder remembered a time when good weather was a detriment to a team he coached, though.

“In 2004 we were coaching at East Central and the entire two-a-days I wore a sweatshirt,” said Clodfelder. “Then on the night of the first game it was like 102 degrees and we had kids just wilting out there.

“We were lucky that we were at home because we were able to put three kids under cold showers with all their gear on to cool them down at halftime,” he continued. “There’s just no way to prepare for a situation like that unless you go through it.”

But both coaches are pleased with the way their kids have worked in practice so far.

“I am very happy with the kids,” said Shadowens. “They have done everything we have asked and they have been focused ... of course it doesn’t hurt when you have nine starters back.”
Clodfelder echoed Shadowens.

“The kids are getting a lot of work in because they aren’t getting exhausted from the heat,” he said. “They don’t get as spent. They are focusing better and getting things done.”

Scrimmage games are set for Benton next Friday night and next Saturday night in Sesser.