Football practice set to begin in Rogers City and Posen

The reading on the Huron National Bank sign in downtown Rogers City was 95 degrees at 7:30 p.m. Monday, just about the same time football coaches from the Huron varsity and junior varsity were conducting what has been traditionally called ?grass drills? in Rogers City. The first official practice for schools that are members of the Michigan High School Athletic Association is Monday at midnight. According to Huron varsity coach Mike Kosiara, who is beginning his third year as head coach, drills cannot include football related activities such as running plays or the use of a football before the first official practice.

There were no footballs in sight, just a lot of water bottles. With the extreme heat gripping northern Michigan, Kosiara had his athletes drinking lots of fluids. Every eight minutes he would stop the conditioning drills for a break. Kosiara had 16 varsity players take part in the drills, but is expecting around 22 for the first practice. ?Some kids had to work,? said Kosiara about his Monday turnout. The first practice is Monday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. They will take a half hour break before finishing up the day with a two-hour practice from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Having the back-to-back practice early in the day not only beats the heat, but it also offers more flexibility, particularly for the student/athletes who want to hold onto a summer job for as long as possible. New this year will be an improved practice field, but Kosiara said they take it easy in the early going and not practice on the field as much, so they don?t damage it.

POSEN FOOTBALL COACH Glenn Budnick begins his 13th year with the Viking football program Monday with the first practice at 8 a.m. Instead of two-a-day practices, Budnick and his coa

ching staff conduct three-hour sessions until 11 a.m. Budnick said it has been a ?crap shoot? determining how many players are going to show up for the first practice. Budnick used to conduct a meeting before the end of school. One year 40 students said they were interesting in coming out for the team, but only 20 showed up, so he scrapped the pre-summer meeting and waits for the first day to see what he has to work with. Last year an eventual two-way starter, who was not interested in coming out for football, was talked into playing. The first game is less than four weeks away for Posen as they host Cedarville.

Following the opener, the Vikings take on Rogers City at Gilpin and then host St. Basel of the Soo, Ontario. St. Basel replaces Pickford who entered a new league. Pickford did not want to end the series, which has provided some exciting football in recent years, but asked Posen to consider a week nine match up. Week nine has been reserved for North Star League foe Atlanta. Another interesting twist is the time and day of the game. The Vikings will host the all-boys school on festival weekend Saturday at 7 p.m., between the bump-and-run and the dances. There should be more people in town for the game compared to a normal Friday contest. The rest of the schedule remains unchanged.