St. Aloysius sophomore Alex Halinski, foreground, takes a needed breather after running sprints during the first practice of the season Monday. Public schools around the state opened football practice on Monday. The Flashes will play at Greenville St. Joseph in the opener on Aug. 27. That same night, Warren Central will play Southaven at 6 p.m. at Vicksburg High, and the Gators will host Gulfport at 8 p.m.(Jon Giffin The Vicksburg Post)

[8/3/04]Donning his Warren Central cap and a whistle, Robert Morgan made his return to the practice field on Monday. But for the first time in 20 years, it was as an assistant coach.

Morgan retired as head coach in April and assistant Curtis Brewer was promoted to head coach for the Vikings. On Thursday, the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees rehired Morgan as an assistant at WC for the first time since 1984.

If there’s any question as to what his role is, both he and Brewer insist Morgan is not the head coach.

“I’ve had enough glory over the last 36 years to do me,” said Morgan, who will be an assistant to the head coach and will dabble in offense, defense and special teams. “I’d kind of like to move the spotlight to the other coaches who’ve always done a great job. All I want to do is help them win and do whatever I can to make us a better team.”

Brewer said things will operate smoothly and just like they have in the past.

“I’m in charge, I’m responsible, I’m the head coach,” Brewer said. “But coach Morgan, if we were on the sideline and he says, I want to do this,’ that’s what we’re going to do. If he said something, we’re just going to have that agreement.”

The players took to the practice field for conditioning and offensive work Monday evening. They’ll practice without pads for three days before putting on the equipment for their first full-contact drills on Thursday.

Brewer expects good things from this group, but he admitted the lines still need work especially establishing starters for some continuity on an offensive line that lost four starters from last season.

“Offense is something you’ve got to set and leave, unless somebody just absolutely steps up and just takes the position away from them or somebody gets hurt,” Brewer said. “On defense, you can take somebody on and off the field. It’s just kind of hard to do that on offense.”

Vicksburg High

Across town, the Gators are trying to rebuild a team that lost 10 starters on offense and eight on defense. That means a lot of work and a lot of teaching by the coaches.

VHS coach Alonzo Stevens is happy with the progress so far, but knows his team lacks experience.

“I love what they’re doing now because it’s a no-nonsense type of attitude,” he said. “We’re taking care of business, coming in here and getting ready to play. But when adversity hits, with inexperience how are you going to do?”

The players have shown plenty of effort, Stevens said.

Of the 77 players at spring practice, 76 made the grades in school and passed. And 30 players did not miss a single practice to earn a name on the back of their jerseys. Another 25 only missed one practice.

“We’ve got some kids that have shown a lot of hard work and have gotten better. We’ve just got to see how it’s going to be when the lights come on,” Stevens said. “At this point, of all the teams I’ve had, this group right now is far more focused than the rest of them.”

Stevens said he was impressed when the Gators won the Jackson summer passing league, something last year’s team wasn’t able to accomplish.

“All I wanted was experience this year, just to go over and play, have fun and learn,” Stevens said. “These guys went to war and I saw a lot of talent, a lot of untapped talent, unproven.”

The Gators have two-a-days all week, with the first practice beginning at 6 a.m. Stevens said the focus has been discipline and teaching the players to play through fatigue.

“We’re going to push them to the limit,” he said, adding that fatigue causes penalties and mistakes late in games. “You’ve got to be mentally ready. Physically, I think they’re there. Mentally, they’ve got to be ready to handle situations.”

St. Aloysius

The Flashes lost their quarterback, receivers and defensive backs from last season, but they do return Rob Jones, who rushed for 1,253 yards and 18 touchdowns. Coach Jim Taylor said the start of practice reminds him a lot of last season.

“It’s a rebuilding thing for us again,” Taylor said. “Last year we started off 1-4 and when we learned to play, we were able to do some things. We’ll be in the same situation of having to learn to play. Hopefully, we’ll do it quicker this year.”

The Flashes have 32 players on the roster, including a handful of new players from Port Gibson. St. Al will have two-a-days this week in shorts and begin practicing in full pads by the sixth day of practice.

“While we’re in shorts, it’s a lot of teaching and conditioning,” Taylor said. “The hardest practices for coaches are this time of year the ones you have in shorts. Everybody wants to get out and do what they do, but getting in shape is about the most important thing.”

Many of the starters will be inexperienced, but Taylor is optimistic about their potential.

“You just don’t know what kids are going to do until it gets to their turn,” he said. “We look for surprises.

“We’re looking for somebody to step up and for those who played well last year to continue to improve.”