By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac and the ancient Romans, these are the “dog days” of summer, when the Dog Star is in the sky, when the days are the hottest. Nobody on Bedford North Lawrence would argue against that fact during the first day of official practice sessions for the 2024 campaign. The Sweat Star was in the sky – also known as the late-afternoon sun – and the heat index was approaching C. That’s the Roman numeral for triple digits.
On the excitement scale, most of the Stars rated Opening Day an X out of X – 10 out of 10. There was reason for optimism. The number of athletes (65) reporting for the debut exceeded expectations, which means some of the offseason hand wringing over unexpected departures was excessive worrying. Those who chose to step on the turf and don the helmets were glad they did.
BNL still needs to age quickly. The roster will include only six seniors. The Stars will get that opportunity for rapid development over the next three weeks, leading to the season opener against Martinsville on Aug. 23.
“It was a really good day,” BNL coach Derrick Barker said. “We had a good turnout with some new faces. We had kids leading by example, making sure everyone got where they were supposed to be. We tried to do a lot, all at once, so there was a lot of moving around. They adapted well.
“We’ve had a good group of leaders, even going back into the winter in the weight room. With a small senior class, a lot of juniors have been asked to be leaders. That’s something we stress, it doesn’t matter what grade you’re in. They’re learning on the fly, but that’s not a bad thing.”
That’s the first key question for BNL: who leads the way? Most can learn the Xs and Os in the playbook, especially since it will be condensed this season to account for the youth and inexperience. Leadership is an important, learned skill.
“As a young team, we needed kids to step up and take leadership,” said junior Driven Axsom, one of the underclassmen who has been vocal on the field. “I figured there was no better place for me to do it. We might not have the experience level for coming out on a Friday night, but this summer helped us a lot and we will pick it up.”
The Stars have marked certain milestones on the calendar for the next two weeks. The first is Thursday, when they’ll go to full pads for physical contact. The next is Friday, when they will host Community Night and unveil some of the next-generation teams in the feeder system. The third is Aug. 16, when they meet Brownstown in the IHSAA sanctioned scrimmage, the final dress rehearsal.
That means there are 14 more practices before the curtain rises. There’s a lot of work to do in the time span.
“We need to be disciplined, learn how to work together, have good chemistry,” BNL senior Gavin Pedersen said. “We’re young, but we’re gritty. We’ll figure out how to win games.”
Barker has already started working on that aspect. The Stars can make up for age and experience with the ageless components that lead to victory.
“Eliminating mental mistakes and playing winning football,” he said. “We talk about how more games are lost than they are won, with mental errors, turnovers and mistakes. It’s not about putting in a robust playbook. We know what we’re good at and what type of team we will be. We just have to get solid.”
After another two days of no-shirts and skins workouts in the predicted heat, BNL will switch gears and get much more serious when full-contact work begins.
“It’s always exciting,” Barker said. “It’s not the same now as putting the full gear on. We will get after it.”
