Richmond senior running back Walter Ellerbe prepares to take a handoff during a drill at practice on Tuesday. Ellerbe, who gained over 1,500 yards and scored 25 TDs in 2009, is a key returning offensive skill player for Richmond.
While the team was spread across the three practice fields — each group working on their prospective drills to make themselves better for the start of the
season in a little over two weeks — the running backs were hard at work practicing their handoffs, and other little things.
The morning practice still carried on under the hot summer sun, and the players regularly got water, and took frequent break in between reps at their respective position stations.
Richmond head coach Paul Hoggard gathered the players on the middle practice field to take a knee and brought rising senior quarterback Laron Ellerbe into the center of the group.
“You’ve got to come out here and play hard every day,” Ellerbe told his teammates. “We get tired, but you still have to push harder and harder to get ready for the season,” Ellerbe added.
Hoggard then stood in front of his team and reminded his players how valuable these practice sessions are.
“You have to keep working to build on our practice sessions,” Hoggard said. “Every day, you should get better at your position and stronger ... When you come out here we want you to put 100 percent into everything that we run through, put everything out of your mind but football, and stay with it the entire time,” Hoggard added.
Nick Eddings, the Raiders’ running backs coach, put his players through theirpaces on Tuesday, and had them running at full speed through their drills.
Eddings went through play-action fakes, handoffs, and other fundamentals. Through the experience of repetition, Eddings hopes to help the Raiders refine their skills as they vie for another state championship in 2011.
“You’ve got to have a quick first step, and find the correct place to run with the ball,” Eddings said.
As practice carried on through the noon hour, Eddings and quarterback coach Mike Kesler set up their players to run the offense out of the backfield.
The players ran the reps almost to perfection, and were listening very attentively to their coach’s instructions on what lane to take, or who to block on certain plays.
Walter Ellerbe was one of those players, and he’ll be a key piece of the puzzle for Richmond this season.
Ellerbe, who had an outstanding season last year, is looking to improve on his 1,500 yards and 25 touchdowns a year ago.
Ellerbe will also be helping the team out on the special teams side of the ball,as he will return kickoffs during the season.
Meanwhile, with the Raiders hitting their stride in practice during the week, the heat index is expected to soar near the 105 degree mark on Thursday.
With two-a-days looming on the horizon next week, the players know that now is the time to get their football conditioning down, and adjust to the heat.
Contact sports reporter Travis Anderson at 997-3111 ext. 44 or via e-mail at tanderson@yourdailyjournal.com
football will be in 2010.