Published: June 11, 2009 01:08 pm      

Cayuga football behind with no spring practice

By SCOTT TYLER

Sports Editor



The Cayuga Wildcats will be entering two-a-day practices in August a little behind schedule.

With the nationwide swine flu epidemic in April and May, the Wildcats were not able to get much time to focus on football during the athletic period this spring.

“We got out there three, four times tops at the end of May,” Cayuga head football coach Tommy Allison said. “We were able to throw the football around and line up a little.”

When swine flu hit Texas in late April, the University Interscholastic League made the decision to postpone all spring sports for two weeks, which included pushing the regional and state track meets into late May and early June.

This affected Cayuga because most of the Wildcat athletes who play football also play baseball and run track and the athletic period is for whatever sports are currently being played.

“We usually get the month of May to get football work but with the outbreak of swine flu and the UIL’s actions, we ran into late May,” Allison said.

While Cayuga has several returners from last year’s state runner up squad, the Wildcat coaching staff was hoping to use the spring to start looking at the open spots they will have.

“We have some key positions that have to be filled,” Allison said. “Now we go into the summer with no idea of what the best fit is for certain positions.”

More of two-a-day practices in August will be spent looking at the depth chart and Allison hopes the coaching staff can start getting answers by the second scrimmage.

Having to spend more time with the depth chart in August, Allison said it would be important for players to work hard this summer on their conditioning.

“The more kids we get involved during the summer, puts us ahead with our conditioning,” the Cayuga head coach said. “Then we can spend time during two-a-days, working on skills and finding the right position for everyone.”

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Scott Tyler may be contacted via e-mail at styler@palestineherald.com