In a strange year with severe challenges from fires and a pandemic it seems really strange that in Oregon we’re watching the college and pro football seasons winding down… while waiting for the high school teams to start.
The current guidance from the OSAA calls for a Feb. 8 opening date for football practices, with games beginning the first weekend in March. That schedule depends on improvements in the coronavirus caseload and the removal of full-contact activities such as football from the state’s “forbidden” list.
For area football coaches it’s a strange new world. There is a precise, seasonal rhythm to football: summer 7 on 7 work, conditioning and fall camp, the season itself, offseason weight work and spring practice. Rinse, repeat.
“Holy crap this has been an interesting nine to ten months for sure,” Brandon Bennett of Cascade told Our Town. “My whole world is turned upside down. It has been 21 years since I did not play/coach football in August. So to say the least it has been day-by-day for me.”
Bennett’s Cougars were able to start offseason workouts in June and “we redesigned how we did everything to follow the guidelines.”
Then the fires hit. “The fires were terrible,” he said. “They affected a large portion of our community.”
During OSAA’s “Season 1” of voluntary activities football at Cascade drew the end of October through middle of November slot.
Bennett’s squad was able to do some 7 on 7 work against other schools, but the highlight was the annual youth flag football league.
“We provided flag football for over 150 first through sixth-graders in the community,” he said. “To see the smiles on the kids’ faces was all worth it.”
Randy Nyquist has faced similar challenges at Stayton.
“We have been able to have conditioning and skill development two times per week this fall,” he said. “We have taken a break since Thanksgiving and will re-evaluate the situation after Christmas break.”
Nyquist’s charges have not been able to use the weight room because of COVID restrictions, but he notes that “motivation and focus have been a positive thing. The kids are starving for competition and fellowship with their teammates, and enthusiasm has been high throughout the year. Just being around each other on the field creates energy and enthusiasm and recharges everyone’s batteries.”
Nyquist also recognizes the importance of working with the upcoming situation.
“We will continue to focus on the things we have control over and not get caught up in the things we can’t control,” he said. “The virus has created a huge opportunity for all of us to work on our mental toughness.”
Up the Santiam Canyon the fires put far more than just football at risk and, in combination with the virus, left Santiam coach Carl Rupp feeling like he was on a roller coaster.
“Over the summer, we were doing outdoor bodyweight workouts and conditioning in small groups with social distancing, as per the rules at that time,” he said. “Then new guidance came out that shut us down, and then the fires hit on top of all of that. Once we got a little more settled after the fires, more guidance came out, so we put off workouts until we had a firm grasp on what we could and couldn’t do, and recently got going again.
“It’s tough to keep the kids engaged for this long, there’s no way around it. Our guys are resilient, though. They’ve been through worse than a delayed football season after this fall’s wildfires. They’re excited about the chance to strap it up and knock some people around though, and we’re glad that we get to be the sport that kicks things off this year.
“It almost provides a sense of normalcy in a weird way.”
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