South Effingham High School freshmen kick off spring football practice

GUYTON — The first day of spring football practice arrived May 4 with a predictable set of firsts for players and coaches to learn. It always does, says South Effingham High School coach Nathan Clark.

The players will be battling for positions and playing time.

For the coaches ...

“Can we get (the players) all here? Can we get them all dressed? We have to learn their names,” Clark said during a water break as he scanned the practice field.

So he does something a little different. Clark will have three separate practice days just for the freshmen and three for the veterans before joining the two groups for the remaining seven practices beginning May 12.

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All the players will have had 10 workouts in a span of 13 school days in accordance with Georgia High School Association guidelines.

South Effingham's rising freshmen started May 4.

“You get to see them (apart) from the older kids and all the coaches are able to focus more time on them to give them a good foundation,” Clark said.

SEHS draws from three different middle schools: South Effingham Middle, Ebenezer Middle School and Effingham County Middle. Clark said his offensive and defensive coordinators met with middle school coaches to learn about the new group of players.

It was a memorable first day. About 40 athletes participated in full pads. The temperature touched 89 degrees before a thunderstorm rolled in, delaying workouts about 30 minutes.

Eventually, players returned and competed in blocking and tackling drills.

“They get to play and learn with each other how we do (practices) here at South Effingham High School,” Clark said. “I think we have a good mix of (freshmen). We have some guys who can move around, so I’m excited about that. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I thought the open-field tackling drill went very well.”

The veterans were slated to begin their practices May 6.

Clark said he’ll be looking for similar qualities from his players, regardless of age or experience. Spring football provides an excellent opportunity to start anew.

“No. 1, we want to build toughness,” Clark said. “We want to make (camp) player-driven. We’re looking for positive encouragement and guys who don’t want to cut corners. We have to have some improvement on our maturity. We’ll be looking to evaluate players and put them in the right positions.”

Clark said players will work out on both sides of the ball as Mustangs coaches look to find the right fit.

SEHS won only two games last season but ended on an encouraging note by defeating Bradwell Institute 28-22 in the season finale. A week earlier, the Mustangs played Richmond Hill, the region’s No. 2 seed, tough in a 27-13 loss.

Clark said his team would play an intrasquad game to end spring workouts May 20 instead of competing against another school.

“We won’t have to worry about getting ready for another opponent and everyone will get a chance to play,” Clark said.

SEHS opens the 2022 season on the road against Vidalia on Aug. 19.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: South Effingham High School football starts spring practice