Members of the Southwest Bulldogs eighth-grade football team opened their Aug. 17 practice the same way they ended their seventh-grade season- with a bang.

Last season the Bulldogs won the seventh-grade championship, and are looking to do so again, as eighth-graders.

After practicing for three days in shorts and helmets, the Bulldogs put on pads and spent much of the afternoon doing light blocking and tackling drills.

Jake Henley, a first-year participant in youth football, never practiced in pads before and appreciated the relatively easy first day.

“I thought the first day was gonna be bad, but it wasn’t,” Henley said.

Bulldog coach Chris Marshall thought it was best to ease his players back into practicing with pads rather than going too harsh too soon. Marshall also stopped practice for frequent water breaks.

Marshall said the team spent a lot of time during their first three practices conditioning and doing calisthenics work to help their bodies adjust to the heat.

Henley began preparing for the season well before practice began. He attended two summer camps and has been lifting weights to get himself in good playing condition.

Henley hopes he gets to play linebacker and along the offensive line for the Bulldogs this season.

A player not new to youth football is Austin Anderson. Anderson was the backup quarterback as a seventh-grader. But enters fall practice as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback.

Anderson also noticed the light workload during practice.

“Practice hasn’t been as hard as seventh-grade so far,” Anderson said. “But I think it will get harder as we go.”

In addition to sweating through tougher practices as the season goes on, Anderson must know all the plays. Anderson said he should be able to memorize them all by the start of the season.

“Once you know them, you remember them,” he said.

One of the reasons the team knows the plays so well, is having the advantage of chalk talk. At these meetings coach Marshall diagrams the team’s plays on the chalkboard and talks to the players, asking them questions ranging from formations to player responsibilities.

“I think they learn more about football this way,” Marshall said. “It helps explain things better.”

Marshall said the team does not have the indoor meetings every day. And the frequency usually depends on the weather.

Last Thursday weather played right into the schedule. On a such a hot day such, Marshall thought the indoor training session would be perfect.

“It’s not fair to these kids to be out there in this heat,” Marshall said.

To help break the sweat of practice, Marshall said the team does not always review plays or go over strategy. Sometimes they have fun and play games. But at the same time, you can bet Marshall will have his team ready for their first game Aug. 31, which is at home versus Leavenworth Warren.

Quarterback Anderson said he only threw a few touchdown passes last season. And was looking to increase that total this year. But do not look for Marshall to have his team airing it out too often.

“Our offense is designed to control the ball,” Marshall said. “I’d rather run inside all day long.”

Marshall said the team’s goal is to win the city championship, but he was not ready to make a prediction that his eighth-graders would hoist any hardware yet.

“As long as we keep improving and take a step forward each week,” Marshall said. “We got a chance to do very well.”