Shane Thomas | The Valdosta Daily TimesValwood quarterback Caleb Burns throws during a 7-on-7 practice against Cook on Tuesday in Hahira.

HAHIRA –– The Valwood Valiants and Cook Hornets came together for their second 7-on-7 practice of the summer on Tuesday.

The joint practice was the second of its kind between the two teams this summer as each have question marks they look to answer before the season kicks off in mid-August.

At the end of the session, Valwood head coach Justin Henderson emphasized the importance of learning and assured he “won’t be yelling in July.”

“It’s June, July; I’m not gonna yell in June, July,” Henderson said. “We’re doing a lot of teaching. (Ashley) was more of an explainer and teacher and I’m more the type to get after someone’s case. Right now, It’s July, we’re just doing a lot of teaching and teaching these kids that No. 1, football’s fun––as soon as you figure out what to do, it’s real fun––and teaching them how to want and know how to be successful.”

The Valiants and Hornets went through offensive and defensive snaps against each other and got each other better during the session.

After welcoming the Valiants to Adel for a 7-on-7 in June, Cook coach Bobby Jones likes how both teams looked during Tuesday’s practice; praising his Hornets as well as the Valiants on what he’s seen in the passing game.

“On both sides, (Valwood) as well as us, I thought everything looked better offensively and defensively,” Jones said. “They’ve done a good job with their intermediate, hook throw passing game and we’ve improved on our passing game a tremendous amount because we are most definitely a run-first team. We’ve run the single wing but the work we’ve done with them and Madison County, we’ve improved a great amount in our passing game over this summer.”

Henderson’s first summer as head coach of the Valiants has gone well, between the team workouts, conditioning and the 7-on-7s against the Hornets.

Henderson, who assumed the role of head coach after his brother Ashley moved on to Thomas County Central in the offseason, likes the way his team competed in drills against the Hornets and while he likes the way the offense is looking, he’d much rather see his beloved defense raise its level once fully healthy.

“We’ve hooked up with Cook twice this summer,” Henderson said. “We went once to their place and this was the last of the summer over here. I felt like we competed. I felt like our one offense right now is starting to click as far as their passing game stuff. We’re gonna start installing a lot more run game and screen game this month so we can hit the ground running in August when we first put on our pads. But, I’m very pleased with our offensive progress.

“Defense, because of injuries, we just haven’t had a lot of consistency…but we’ve got guys. We’re very talented on defense so we’ll get there, but we’re not very consistent on the defensive side of the ball right now. A lot of it has to do with––we’re not gonna face seven guys for five seconds and throw the ball.”

In addition to improvement in the passing game, the Hornets have made moves to shore up their defense––namely tapping former Berrien head coach Bill Cribb as the team’s new defensive coordinator. Cribb didn’t come alone, however, as his former offensive coordinator William Davis, will coach the Hornets’ offensive line. 

Valwood will notice a familiar face wearing black and yellow next season as the Valiants’ offensive coordinator Mario Drayton joined Jones’ staff as a wide receivers and wing backs coach.

For the Valiants, team morale looks to be a bright spot this summer. Henderson maintains he hasn’t changed much in terms of approach this summer, focusing more on team-building around their normal offseason program.

“I’ve really liked what we’ve done since I’ve been here with the summer program so we haven’t shaken much up from that,” Henderson said. “We do 7-on-7s in June, I know we just did one (Tuesday) but it’s the only one in July. We do a lot of agility stuff, a lot of strength stuff, we condition them, we do a lot of football so it’s a total deal. We haven’t changed much there.

“The only real change I’ve made is just a lot of the team-building stuff, just to make us tighter as a unit and I think it’s paying off. They’re always encouraging one another, there’s not a lot of complaining. A lot of positive encouragement and I’ve been pleased with that.”

Like Henderson, Jones, too, doesn’t plan on yelling in July. His 2018 Hornets figure to be less veteran-heavy than last year’s roster, thus the demands on his group have had to change accordingly.

“We’ve been a little less challenging,” Jones admitted. “When you’ve got a senior-laden group, a lot of times you’ve got to kind of light a fire under them because they were going through the summer and they can get bored with it. But when you’ve got a lot of young kids getting ready, you’ve got to be careful not to discourage them. Sometimes they shut down if you get on them too hard.”