Published: May 16, 2008 03:26 pm            

Cougars return to practice field

Ada — On Thursday the Ada Cougars put to good use their third day of spring practice, glad to have a bright sunshiney day.

“We worked on defense again and it was a lot better today ... miles and miles better,” said first-year head coach Matt Weber.

The Cougars will pose today at 2:30 p.m. for the team photo for the 40-something football calendar, an ongoing tradition since 1951 or so.

Though it is close enough to almost cast a shadow over the football practice field, the cavernous indoor practice facility is still a couple of months from completion and offered no shelter from a Wednesday afternoon downpour.

However, the much smaller indoor facility, “the Green Room”, inside the Craig McBroom Football Complex was more than ready to host the Ada Cougars for spring practice Wednesday. As the rain poured outside the Cougars ran several drills in the dry. The offensive linemen in particular found plenty of room to work as did the backs and receivers.

“We also watched film of the defense from yesterday and got just about all the things done that we wanted. I couldn’t see just going out and sloshing around in the mud, tearing up the field, and coaching their minds is a big part of it and we did not lose a whole day that way,” Weber said.

He said the integration of his terminology with Ada’s old terms was developing smoothly into a hybrid of both.

“It really helps having Coach (Don) Byrd and Coach (Nate) Elliott here. They have made the transition much smoother,” he said of the line coaches. “The line is a difficult place to play. You cannot be a dummy and play in the offensive line.”

Weber said he was very much looking forward to the completion of the indoor practice facility. Crews are expected to finish leveling and compacting the base and let it ‘set’ for several days until the turf crew arrives June 1. Completion and dedication dates are set for early July.

“We did not have an equivalent of the Green Room in Marlow. We went to the gym to work out. Like Ada over the past several years we were scrambling for a place to practice during the wet days during the playoffs. We wound up in the Stephens County show barn,” Weber said.

Weber continues to be impressed by the Ada facilities and amenities.

“The facilities are as good as any in the state — or in Texas when the indoor facility is finished. I’ve seen the one at Southlake Carroll and it is not any better. Hey, the Dallas Cowboys practice some there, so it must be awfully good. I predict that once people start seeing this one, they will start popping up all over the state,” he said.

———o———

Welcome, Dusty

Cougar Spring Notebook: One assistant Weber brought with him is Dusty Raper, another Wolf from Davis and the son of Jerry Raper, the long-time rock of the Davis program.

An offensive/defensive lineman, Dusty Raper played on the 2000 state finalist team that lost by a point to OC Millwood. He spent four years at linebacker at East Central University, then began his coaching career at Dickson. A year ago he joined Weber’s staff at Marlow.

        

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