El Dorado will don pads Friday for the eighth time of the spring football practice. The Wildcats will finish up the four weeks of practice next week with the spring football game set for Thursday at 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Coach Steven Jones said last Friday was the first day to include players from baseball, soccer and track, bringing the total number of athletes to 75, including next year’s sophomores.
“I’ve been really pleased with the energy so far in the spring. I feel like we’ve practiced very efficiently,” said Jones. “There’s been a lot of focus. I think there’s a desire to want to get better and want to compete. The biggest takeaway so far has been the focus.”
Sharmon Rester has worked as the starting quarterback exclusively after rotating at quarterback, running back and receiver last season.
“He’s had a good spring so far,” Jones said. “He’s coming back from being a little banged up at the end of track season. He had some hamstring issues but he’s back to a hundred percent. He’s looked sharp so far.”
Jones said there hasn’t been a lot of changes offensively, just piling up repetitions and cleaning up.
“Not really a lot of changes, we’re just going back through everything. We’re not changing who we are offensively. We still feel like we’re a spread team. We’re very excited about our wide receiver group,” he said. “We are adjusting to a 3-4 scheme this year. I’ve been very pleased with that. We feel like our personnel fits this season’s team a little bit better. It will help us out in the run game. We’ve been pleased with that transition so far.
“There’s been a lot of enthusiasm. Our guys are just excited to compete.”
Competition has been key for the Wildcats, who could feature one of the state’s best receiving corps next season. El Dorado’s defensive backs have also been strong, making for some exciting 7-on-7 or pass skel sessions.
“We’ve done a lot of good-on-good stuff so far. We have a lot of defensive returning starters. We feel good about our secondary, especially at corner. Mario Ganter and Bryson Boulden return at that spot,” said Jones. “That competition has really heated up with the receiving group we have going up against that group every day. Competition is definitely forcing us to get better.”