Summer passing league gives Iron Horses a leg up

Philip Simmons High School football coach Eric Bendig has been around long enough – as a player and coach – to remember the dog days of August when teams held two, and yes, sometimes, three-a-day practices to get ready for the season at hand.

 

“It seemed like everybody just showed up around Aug. 1,” said Bendig, who is ready to begin his seventh season as coach of the Iron Horses. “You didn’t know who would show up or what shape they were in.”

 

High school football has changed since those days. Weightlifting has become a year-round routine, while skill-position players participate in 7-on-7 passing leagues over the summer to build chemistry and esprit de corps.

 

Passing leagues allow quarterbacks and wide receivers to bond, while players in the defensive secondary gain experience on a competitive basis. The seven players on offense are the quarterback, wide receivers, tight ends and running backs, although running the football is not the focus. Defensive players include linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties.

 

“It gives us a chance to go against other teams,” Bendig said of the 7-on-7 passing league. “They keep score, and the players rise to the occasion. It’s something they look forward to.”

 

This year’s passing league will give Bendig more time to sort out the depth chart as the team lost 16 seniors from last year’s team that posted a 10-2 record and rewrote the record book so many times it might have been better to record the milestones with a pencil and eraser.

 

“Things are going good,” said Bendig, whose team begins the season Aug. 23 against Hanahan. “The passing league gives us a chance to get a really good look at the players. We’re looking for guys to step up. We’re looking to fill roles.”

 

As the season nears, Tavien Orellana is back for his third season as the starting quarterback. He’s completed 60 percent of his passes the last two seasons, throwing for 2,378 yards and 32 touchdowns.

 

But running backs K.J. Asbury and Sharod White and their combined 3,400 rushing yards departed via graduation.

 

“We can’t recreate KJ and Sharod,” Bendig said. “But we can recreate their numbers.”

 

This fall, look for Darriel Porcher, TJ Walker and Brody Tonon to get the majority of the carries.

 

The wide receiver positions were depleted, but the potential is there. Colton Kellermann has really made an impression with his skills and work ethic. Josiah Young and Cooper Webb will be impressive targets. Look for the tight end position to be more involved in the attack.

 

Bendig has led the team to 28 victories in its last 36 games, and the success rate should continue. There are about 40 rising sophomores who played on the school’s B-team that went out and posted a 9-1 record.

 

“Some of those sophomores will be starters and others will provide depth,” Bendig said.