North tunes up for Pop Warner season
Pop Warner Jamborees provide a dress rehearsal before the games count. It’s a time for teams to try things, install their offense and defense and, if you’re going to make a mistake, as a coach or a player, it’s a learning experience.
For four competitive North Fort Myers Red Knights Pop Warner football teams, a balmy Saturday at Caloosa Middle School in Cape Coral was perfect time to learn as they, Cape Jr., Cape Youth, Charlotte and Port Charlotte got together for the annual exhibition.
If it seemed like the season came upon them quickly, it’s because it has. With practice starting just two weeks ago and the first 10 hours without pads, that didn’t give the teams a lot of time to do any real hitting.
According to Kurt Donaldson, North’s Pee-Wee coach, it showed. But that was to be expected.
Thankfully, the weather has cooperated, allowing teams to physically work on their offense and defense.
“It’s the first time against another team and our fifth day in pads. We’ve been luckier with the weather than in the last couple years, so that’s helped,” Donaldson said.
At the Jamboree, the teams played what almost amounts to a full game. They played two 20-minute games (10-minute halves) with a running clock that stopped only with the one time out per half the teams were given.
Since the teams were run onto the field as soon as they other game ended, the games pretty much started on schedule.
Once the games were finished, the coaches said the teams played well, but have a whole lot of work to do.
Normally it takes more time to get the offense together. But Donaldson said it was the defense that had its challenges.
“We did a lot of things well, but there are things we still need to work on. It’s early in the season so we have time,” Donaldson said. “We executed our plays well on offense in the no huddle. Defense needs work. We showed weaknesses we need to fix.”
North will have two weeks to make the fixes they need to make as it has a bye in the opening week. The Red Knights will open Aug. 29 at traditional power North Port.
“That is a tremendous advantage for us. It allows us to work on the fundamentals and put in more of our offense,” Midget coach Dan Kelly said. “Everyone else has to worry about who they’re going to play.”
“It gives us an extra week to prepare for the game. We’ll keep working on the offense and really concentrate on the defense, because it’s where we need the most work right now,” Donaldson said.