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George
Starks photo - Greenville senior Jacob Burke sets up under
center during practice Monday.
Burke will lead the Wave into battle a
week from Friday at home against Butler.
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Wave gearing up for
opening night showdown
By George Starks
GREENVILLE - When conditioning started for fall athletes, the heat was
unbearable. With several straight days of 90 plus temperatures,
football coaches across the state and beyond stressed two words...
“Stay hydrated.”
According to senior co-captain Sam Jones, it was tough in the beginning.
“At the start of conditioning, it was miserable,” Jones stated. “Coach
couldn’t stress fluids enough and believe it or not, we never had one
heat related problem the whole time. When two-a-days started, it was
just as bad. We were fighting with the heat and trying to get our
practice time in. Again, it was miserable but no problems. The first
couple of days were really rough but everyone got into the right
mindset and learned to keep the fluids going.”
Coming off a 3-7 season a year ago, heat was not going to stop the Wave
from getting into shape and improving on a record that was unacceptable.
“Our goal as a team is to turn those numbers around,” said senior
co-captain Alec Watkins. “It was tough out here but after the first
week everybody figured out what was going on and we pushed through it.
Now, the weather is more like mid September. It’s cool out here and it
feels more like football weather. We are in the dog days of August but
it’s not like it usually is. It’s pleasurable out here.”
With Vandalia-Butler coming in to start the season a week from Friday,
the Aviators will come in looking to get the 2011 Wave season off on
the wrong foot for Greenville.
“These guys were good a year ago,” Jones pointed out. “They have a
couple of guys that are going to college after they graduate to play
football and they will be ready. We have to be prepared and ready for
them. We know what they have and what they bring to the table. It means
the world to me that we are opening at home and there’s no better place
to be than at Harmon Field on a Friday night.”
With this being the last year before the Wave football team will be
able to join the Greater Western Ohio Conference (GWOC) Jones and
Watkins both are disappointed that once again, there will be no chance
of a conference title.
“It’s very disappointing that we missed the GWOC by one season,”
Watkins admitted.
“I wish we could have a shot at it,” Jones added. “But we can’t be
selfish and let it affect our season. We play a lot of tough teams and
I think the community recognizes that. So we have to focus on a winning
season and get into the state tournament.”
If the Wave looks to make it into the tournament, Watkins knows where
it starts.
“Before we think about that, we have to beat Butler first,” Watkins
quipped. “The playoffs are our main goal but we have to win games to
get there. So our first goal of the season is to beat Butler and go
from there. We can’t be looking that far down the road. Not yet!”
While Jones feels a 7-3 mark will get then in, Watkins had other
thoughts on the subject of a record that will get them in the
tournament.
“A 7-3 or 8-2 record is not an option,” Watkins said. “I want to go
undefeated. That is the only option.”
“It was just a couple of years ago we went 7-3 and missed the play-offs
by .02 points,” Jones said. “We don’t want that to happen again. We
thought we were in. It was a heartbreaker when we found out we missed
it by such a slim margin.”
Led by senior Jacob Burke, the Wave will take the field led by a
quarterback that has started since he was a freshman.
“He has worked hard in the off season and he can pass the ball,” Jones
pointed out. “We were 22 passes a game this year. He’s a great leader.”
“I believe in Jacob,” said Watkins. “He’s a leader on and off the
field. In the past, he was unsure of himself and his passing was shaky.
This year, that’s not the case. His confidence level is up and he’s out
there to lead this team in every way he can. This whole team believes
in Jacob and his abilities.”
With 12 seniors on the team, the Wave will be putting a ton of
experience on the field. It’s a team that must stay healthy to have
success and a team that must stay unified.
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