Huskies end grid camp, to hit the Beach on 16th

Following their completion Wednesday of a football camp in Tulsa, varsity prospects of the Pawhuska Huskies will get a brief respite before heading back to “The Beach” for a run through the SPA.

SPA refers to a regimen of strength-power-agility training which Bob Craig installed in the local grid program last summer prior to his first season as PHS head coach.

“We have a lot of things we want to work on and this will help with all of that,” said Craig, who led the PHS team to its fourth straight postseason appearance last year.

Beginning June 16, the SPA sessions are to go on three days a week through the latter part of July and culminate with the second-annual PHS Night of Champions on the evening of July 22. While some activities are planned at PHS’s Ormand Beach Memorial Stadium, much of the work will be taking place on the practice field near 21st and McKenzie.

After a coaches-parents meeting on Aug. 7, season practices will get started Aug. 11. Players begin wearing pads on Aug. 14 and the initial scrimmage (versus Pawnee) is set for Aug. 28.

“I’m certainly looking forward to it and I hope everybody else is, too,” the Pawhuska coach added.

The Huskies will be needing replacements at some key skill positions for the 2014 campaign, although they are to bring back some major elements from last year’s four-win squad. Included among the highlighted mix of returning talent are standout seniors-to-be Tyler Reece, Hayden Javellas and Marshall Tolson, as well as double Treys — Powell and Redeagle.

Shining sophomore from a year ago should be ready to continue their emergence. They include a proven running back, Matthew Taft, and a pair of rapidly developing defensive forces in Hayden Henley and Jacob Lessert.

Freshmen who made major impacts in 2013 are expected to lead the team on the field next season. As a ninth-grader, John Bighorse impressed everyone who saw him play and could become a human highlight real of the future. Caleb Bruce also contributed heavily in his high school debut and there are numerous other former and incoming frosh with star potential waiting in the wings.