VALDOSTA —
The Valdosta Wildcats began spring football practice on Monday, putting on pads for the first time in 2012.
The defending Region 1-AAAAA champion Wildcats practiced for around three hours on Monday afternoon at the school’s practice field.
“It was a first day,” Valdosta head coach Rance Gillespie said, indicating there were some ups and some downs on Monday. “The kids worked hard and got after it, and I thought the pace throughout the day was pretty good.”
The Wildcats will hold practices on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week and next week. Spring practice will end with the annual spring game on Saturday, May 19 at Cleveland Field at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
Gillespie says there are several things he wants to accomplish in spring practice.
“I think the No. 1 goal every spring is to establish a great pace,” the Wildcats’ head coach said. “I thought we had a good pace today at practice. Then you want to establish a physicality for your football team. We’ve also got a lot of evaluations, to figure out where everybody goes and make sure everybody on the team is in the right spot. That’s a big part of what we do in the spring.”
Valdosta will return eight full- or part-time starters on offense in the fall. That includes quarterback Shelby Wilkes, who passed for 1,388 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2011. This is the first time in Gillespie’s three springs that his quarterback is a returning starter.
“It helps (the offense) considerably,” Gillespie admitted. “Both of those kids (Wilkes and junior Mac Loudermilk) know exactly what’s going on.”
Valdosta’s two leading rushers, Nelson Herring and Malcolm Joseph, are also back. The pair combined for 1,095 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground in 2011. Four of the team’s five starters on the offensive line last year — Dyshon Simms (who is moving from left guard to left tackle), Anthony Evans (who has moved from right guard to left guard), center Jamel Hunter and right tackle Ronnie Stoney — are scheduled to return this fall.
“We’ve got a lot of guys back,” Gillespie said. “The quarterback’s back, both backs are back, Sherrod (Inman) and Yardley (Payne) played a lot at wide receiver last year. Taijan (Smith) played a lot of tight end. And four of the starting five up front are back. We’ve got so many back offensively.”
“There’s a lot of stuff we did really well (on Monday),” he added. “Offensively, we were executing. We didn’t install a lot today, but the things that we did install, we did well.”
The Wildcats’ defense, however, will have a lot of new faces in the fall. Eight of the team’s 11 starters from last year were seniors. Defensive end Chuntony Johnson, a third-year starter, and safety Jacquez Jelks are the only returning starters, although middle linebacker Anthony Smith and defensive tackle Darrius Sapp also played a lot.
“Defensively, they’ve got a ways to go and some gaps to fill and some people to find,” Gillespie said.
The Wildcats won’t be changing much on offense or defense this spring. After making it to the quarterfinals in 2010 and winning their first region title in eight years in 2011, there’s probably not much they need to change. Instead, the team is focused on getting better at doing the things they do.
While the first-team players will get the most snaps this spring, Gillespie also wants to give the reserves plenty of reps as well.
“We’re trying to (play) everybody, and make sure everybody gets snaps,” he said.
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Malcolm Joseph (21) and the Valdosta Wildcats began spring practice on Monday. Paul Leavy | The Valdosta Daily Times
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’Cats begin spring practice
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