Drake Phillips is preparing for a battle in the Trenches

Believe it or not football season is right around the corner.

Drake Phillips is ready to make a difference this season.

The NFL has started practice and your Canyon Lake Hawks have been diligently working out in Speed and Strength sessions for the last few weeks.

As is The ReSporter’s habit, the first article will be dedicated to the trenches and the offensive line.

This year will have a special emphasis on this unit as these students will be preparing for a different offensive scheme which will require more snaps and an run based offense.

The ReSporter will be having more articles as we will try to catch up with Head Coach Charley Drum and the other coaches for this coming season.

Senior Drake Phillips has been one of those players that has been a fixture each evening on the high school campus working on his conditioning.

After a season that many players would like to forget, Phillips seems to have a different resolve as his final year approaches.

“Yeah, I think speed and strength is big in getting ready for the season,” Phillips said.

There are some publications that have Canyon Lake finishing in fifth place behind Fredericksburg.

After finishing with a lethargic 3-7 record who could blame soothsayers on having the Hawks in a much lower position in district.

“No game is really a gimme and we will need to play each game as it is our biggest battle,” Phillips deduced. “If we don’t, then we will have failure.”

“We had people who lost sight of that last year and were distracted by other things,” Phillips commented after thinking over the question of how hard the schedule is this year and what happened to a season that had a much higher goal in finishing a season in the playoffs.

Ever since the cleats were stored away last season CL Coaches have had a different motif in how to prepare this Hawk team for the upcoming season.

“The Coaches have done a good job with one of our hardest off-season’s,” Phillips said while remembering those days that have to seem many months ago.

“We have a goal to get back into the district playoffs and we need to win championships. We have to ‘want to’.”

This season will have four teams from each district qualify for an extra week of games.

If those sports publications are correct, then this would make the third year in a row without a playoff game and that has to be on these players minds as they work away in very hot conditions in the middle of Summer.

Last season, Canyon Lake would of made the playoffs with their 3-7 record since two of those wins were in District 27-3A play.

“We will have to be more spot on for blocking,” Phillips closed as a lineman should.

Canyon Lake is now less than four weeks in preparing for another year of football and with the last two years of disappointments, the Hawks need to get that ‘Dis’ out Appointment and start making an appointment for another year called Post-Season.

The Hawks have changed their offense and now a change of mind-set will be just be what the doctor ordered to start planning more than 10 games.

Drake Phillips will do his part as he has been readying himself since the end of last season.

The line will be a major key to the success of this season and taking care of business in the trenches will hinge on how the leadership of this group of players.

Here’s hoping that this new offense will be that key.