Midnight Madness hits East Ridge

The East Ridge Pioneers couldn't wait to hit the practice field in pads to kick off preparations for the 2007 football season.

The eyelids were droopy, but the spirits were high when veteran Coach Tim James blew the whistle this morning at 12:01 for practice to begin.

"We wanted to set a tone with our kids and let them know we wanted to work our tails off so we can be as good as we can be this year," James said. "There's not many things out there that kids need to be doing at this hour, plus its fun for the kids and they can get their minds on football."

July 30 is the first day allowed by the TSSAA for high school football teams to practice in pads.

As a beautiful moon watched above the field named after James' father Raymond, the orange-clad Pioneers practiced hard for more than two hours before heading for the fieldhouse for some bonding time.

"We wanted to take time for a skull session and character building and we'll feed them breakfast at 6:30 and send them home to get their legs back under them," James said.

The team was scheduled to practice again on Tuesday.

East Ridge is coming off of a 4-6 record in 3-3A and James and his crew were excited to get back to work on a new season.

"I love this team," James said. "They came in to practice in better shape than any I have ever had. They were excited about being here and arrived early."

The Pioneers appeared to be bigger and more athletic than the 2006 team that got off to a slow start.

East Ridge lost its first five games last season before winning four of the last five.

But James insists his team is not one of the favorites to win the region.

"We're a darkhorse, we're not favored at all," he said.

East Ridge will play Boyd-Buchanan at 7:55 on August 17 in the 2007 Krystal Kickoff Classic presented by Stump On Sports at Finley Stadium. The two-day jamboree features 21 high school teams from Tennessee and four from Georgia Aug. 16-18.

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