High School Sports Season Is Here; NASCAR Has New Leader

There is nothing like a first day!

On Monday, over 250 kids participated in the opening practice of high school football for all of the teams across the county. Nobody seemed more thrilled than coach Daniel Bailey at Chase.

“We have around 20 kids that return for their senior year and I feel like we had a great first day of practice,” Bailey said. “We have good size and I feel like our athletic ability in the open field will be better than a year ago.”

The Trojans had 71 kids showed up for the first day of football practice. On the varsity, the Trojans are looking at 41 players and 30 on junior varsity. And why shouldn’t Chase be enthused after sporting a 9-4 record a season ago.

Over at East Rutherford, they had the biggest turnout of 82 players (47 varsity, 35 junior varsity) on opening day.

“I am very happy with the attitudes and this is one of the best first days I have had as a head coach here,” East Rutherford football coach Clint Bland said. “Simply put, I just like the way they work.”

While everybody seems excited and energized, it’s going to be a tough couple weeks as many kids are competing for spots. That fact is mainly due to just seven starters returning overall, which ended in a 5-7 record a year ago.

In Rutherfordton, R-S Central coach Mike Cheek posed the biggest challenge to those who wanted to come back at the end of last season. Who wants to be tougher, faster and stronger? Those are the elements Central struggled with a year ago and said that was the only way the Hilltoppers (2-9 last year) would get any better.

There’s a good indication that part holds true, since the number of players doubled during summer workouts in the weight room, compared to two years ago.

On the other hand, Cheek understands the positive direction that they are taking, but claimed it was too early to tell if the question is really answered.

“I think our backfield is fast, but we have a ton of young kids who are going to have to step it up early.” Cheek said.

Central had 78 kids overall with 40 varsity players on day one. An interesting thought occurs though, both East and Central have to replace their entire offensive line for this season. No doubt, that will be the major issue for both to solve as the first game approaches on August 17th.

You can see all six (varsity and junior varsity) clubs in action at the Rutherford County Jamboree on August 10th at East Rutherford High.

Thomas Jefferson hit the field for a night session on Monday with Coach Jerry Cash taking over the team. Cash usually likes run base offenses, but TJCA has been mainly a pass oriented team over the a last few seasons. Although they went winless a season ago, it’s going to be interesting as to how much change they will incur this season.

On the NASCAR scene, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the new points leader and not by accident. Junior has three fourth place runs in the last four races and a total of 15 top tens in 20 starts this season. And the forecast of good things to come is expected at five of the next six events. This week is Pocono, he probably should have won at during the last visit, Watkins Glen is a toss up, and in Michigan he dominated for his first win of the season. Followed by Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond; all which are good tracks for the #88.

However, Jimmie Johnson is coming on strong again. Johnson, by far and away looks like the man to beat during the second half and postseason of 2012. Johnson is the only one who can match Juinor’s 15 top 10’s in 20 starts this season. And only Johnson and Jeff Gordon have now won four Brickyard 400’s in their storied careers.

Also, just to touch up on the A.J. Allmendinger story. Samples from both and A and B were found to be positive for amphetamine use. Allmendinger swears that he does take stimulants, but was unaware that it would make him fail a drug test. For the most part, I think I believe Allmendinger. However, you have to know what you are taking in order to keep your job and protect yourself. Per NASCAR rules, Allmendinger will have to enter NASCAR’s Road to Recovery, which will get him back on track faster than going through legal battles. He has agreed to doing so. Allmendinger has also hired a toxicology lab to find out what it was that caused the test to come back positive. While I do respect NASCAR’s drug policy, it sounds more like an innocent mistake on Allmendinger‘s part, but I leave myself room to be wrong.