Editor's note: BHP was at Midnight Madness early Monday morning. Check back for our story after our writer gets a few hours rest!

BHS may move second practice to evening; BA running back sidelined by surgery

By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
This is the time of year football players and coaches alike can't wait for players to get out on the field in pads and start hitting somebody -- and Ravenwood really can't wait.

The Raptors will get a head-start on other area teams with a Midnight Madness practice 12:01 a.m. Monday morning, Aug. 1 (Sunday night) under the lights at the stadium.

Ravenwood will open 2011 football practices in pads at midnight Sunday night/Monday morning. The Raptors also will debut new black uniforms at Photo Day on Saturday.

After the players spend the night together at the school, they'll be back up and ready for their second "two-a-day" at 7:30 a.m., about the time Brentwood High and Brentwood Academy teams are holding their first practice allowed in full gear.

"The players are very excited," said new RHS head coach Joe Rietveld. "They're as excited about Midnight Madness as they are to finally get the equipment on and get after it and get closer to opening day.

"The parents are excited also. I understand there will be some folks up in the stands, and I hope they're not late to work the next day."

Rietveld joked that anybody was welcome to watch as long as they didn't "have a video camera and are not an opposing coach."

BA, BHS and RHS all three are having battles at the quarterback position this season, and coaches are as ready as ever to get the players on the field with contact. TSSAA teams also have a week less to practice in pads from last year,  although RHS kicks off a week later than they could.

BHS sophomore Aaron Maher is a southpaw QB.

Brentwood High: Only handful of players with experience

Brentwood High, after winning three straight District 11-AAA championships, has about only eight players who have played any meaningful snaps, Crawford said. BHS has the earliest scheduled game as the  Thursday Night Lights television game of the week on Aug. 18 at Cookeville.

"I think we're at the point right now that our practices are getting somewhat repetitive without pads," Bruins Coach Ron Crawford said. "Our coaches are anxious to get into it and see if the players carry over some of things we've taught at this point."

BHS will start Monday at 7 a.m. and the second practice is scheduled for 4 p.m. but will likely be moved to later due to heat-index policies and concerns.

"The pads going on will change their body temperature," Crawford said. "A 102 heat index will feel a whole lot hotter. All we've got on now is the headgear."

Crawford said he'll have to see how junior Austin Winfree and sophomore Aaron Maher, a lefty, react under center when they "have live bullets shot at them."

BHS will have a home scrimmage against Oakland at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5. The starting QB decision may even come down to game day, and there are plenty of other competition at other spots, too, Crawford said.

"Rght now we're working too many guys," the BHS coach said. "Once we get to pads, it's impossible to work that many guys. We need to get guys to separate themselves from the rest of the pack."

Brentwood Academy: Top running back Anoor may miss senior season

BA's Radir Anoor may miss senior season.

Brentwood Academy also will now be without senior running back Radir Anoor for either most or all the season. Anoor, who led BA's 4x200 relay to a Division II state title in late May, had surgery for a rare knee condition in June and will be out 4-6 months.

Eagles Coach Ralph Potter said the next 10 days of practices would be a crucial time to evaluate the BA players "and try to have a sense of where we'll go in the first few games."

"The last two weeks we've been to passing tournaments and working on those types of things, and this week we just installed as must as we can," Potter said. "We've got a lot things in and can't go live."

With one less week of practice, Potter says it's going to be tough getting the Eagles ready for the Aug. 19 opener at home against hosting powerful Louisville (Ky.) Trinity on Aug. 19.

Potter says he cannot truly evaluate junior quarterback candidates Nick Givens and Max Staver until they're in a live situation.

"I think both of them have done some really good things in the tournament and practice but both have a ways to go," he said.

The Eagles do have two top college prospects who have already committed to big-name schools: defensive lineman Woody Baron to Virginia Tech and offensive lineman Graham Shuler to Stanford.

Ravenwood High: Three QBs in competition to start

At Ravenwood, Harrison Johnson, John Overton and Andrew Radford are in the running for starting quarterback.

"We've definitely got to get them underneath the lights; some guys are better game players," Rietveld said.

The Raptors will have a team scrimmage Friday, Aug. 5, and then go to the Lebanon jamboree on Saturday, Aug. 13. His team has its bye on the first week games are allowed, opening at Battle Ground Academy on Aug. 27.

Rietveld hasn't ever held a midnight kickoff practice, although some other schools in northern Indiana where he previously coached had done it (with mixed response).

He decided "to get a little bit of team chemistry" after the team couldn't go to inherited plans for camp at Tennessee Tech -- scrapped because eight members of his staff are new to Williamson County Schools and must attend orientation.

"I hope the kids understand that we're going to get some work done," Rietveld said. "We're going to go 12-2 and we're having practice. It's not going to be fun and games.

"My guess is they're going to be tired at 2 a.m."