Mature Sandies Ready For Some Football
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – Grapeland Independent School District (GISD) came back to school Tuesday, Aug. 8. Amidst the shuffling of little feet finding their rooms and working our snags in their schedules, a group of young men was already working hard for another important aspect of any new school year: the start of a new season of Sandie football.
“Day two, we had an athletic period workout with everybody involved. It was one of the best workout sessions we’ve ever had, at any school I’ve been at for a day one practice,” Wood said. “It was really impressive. They had a lot of fun; a lot of positive energy.”
The new Sandies schedule pits them against some stiff competition, facing Overton, Mount Enterprise and Lovelady, among others. GISD Athletic Director and Head Coach Jordan Wood said he is ready for the matchups and the new year on the field.
“Our young guys are finally upper-classmen,” Wood said. “We had we started five freshmen a couple years ago, and they’re now juniors and we have a real talented group of seniors and we’re really excited.”
Ranked fifth in their division, fans have watched these Sandies mature and grow, with most of Wood’s best players back this year for another round of games. Running back Maleek Johnson is expected to burn through some yards on the ground, protected by Linebackers such as Jesse Ellington and Rickie Gilmore.
“Last year, we didn’t have Maleek Johnson a single game all year, and he is definitely our most explosive playmaker. He’s an awesome athlete and we’re excited to have him this year. We just have to keep him healthy,” Wood said. “Maleek is a big, muscular kid with a low center of gravity, over 21 miles per hour running – he is an explosive player for us and we’re excited to watch him go!”
The practices have been tough, but promising, Wood said, leading him to feel optimistic about the experience and spirit of his Sandies, as they play their first scrimmage this Friday, Aug. 16 against Chilton. It will be the opportunity to see the kids in action and get to know them better. Junior Varsity plays at 6 p.m., with “Meet the Sandies” at 6:30 p.m., followed by the scrimmage.
Defense is getting its share of work, too, with Wood focusing on the fundamentals of defense – namely, tackling.
“We’re really emphasizing tackling and we’re doing a good job. We want to get lined up, play fast and we want to tackle well,” Wood explained. “We’ve done some inter-squad scrimmaging and we tackled really well across the board. I was impressed and pleased.”
The Sandies are in a tough Division Two, with several powerhouses to get through – something Wood said was just fine with him.
“We’re in one of the toughest districts in Division Two, and that’s what we want. We don’t want a ‘cupcake’ schedule, we want a tough schedule,” Wood said. “We want to be battle-tested before the playoffs.”
No team can survive long without the support of the community and the Sandies’ die-hard fans play a big part in the their success, now acclimatized to the new field and some new strategies the coaches and kids have prepared for this year’s opponents.
“People are ready, because they’ve watched this group the last few years, since they were really young, fighting as freshmen, and now they’re starting to be upper class,” Wood said. “They made a little bit of noise, statistically, and we played against really good talent. They’re playing confident. They’re playing loose. We’re excited with what’s going to come and we think the community is just going to get more and more excited, too.”
This Friday begins other scrimmage games around the area, including the Crockett Bulldogs at Woodville and the Lovelady Lions at Trinity.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
