During the summer offseason calendar for football, 7-on-7 passing competitions have been around long enough to become as routine to the high school sports existence as oversized mums at homecoming and blistering hot season openers in August.
Now, the linemen get a chance to show off their football skills.
Nacogdoches High School offensive and defensive linemen are headed to Abilene Saturday for the Linemen Challenge, an offseason contest that allows the big men up front to go up against other schools around the state. Those attending the challenge include, Dailyn Deckard, Cash Lockhart, Jkobe Barnes, Roderick Jones , Mason Chambers, Jeremiah Chatman, Tristian Walker, Jeremiah Adams and Shion Walker.
The Dragons went to a linemen challenge earlier this month in Waco and did well enough to qualify for a state meet scheduled for June 20 in Abilene.
The competition showcases the kind of strength and agility skills offensive and defensive linemen might use during the season, like tire flips, farmer's carry, power push, bench press (how many repetitions of 225 pounds), obstacle course challenges and tug of war.
“I’m really excited about this, and the linemen are too,” said Dragon’s defensive line coach, Frederick Bridges. “They’re taking a lot of pride in this to compete against linemen from across the State of Texas.”
Bridges said new athletic director and head football coach Jay Brown brought up the idea back in May, while offseason workouts were still going on after school. The Dragons coaching staff then incorporated the type of strength and agility training that’s featured by the challenge into offseason and summer workouts.
“They’ve really bought into this,” Bridges said Tuesday morning as another day of summer workouts got underway at Dragon Stadium. “There’s a lot of excitement about the unlimited possibilities of this year’s football team.”