WS Chronicle

“Reclaim the North” has been the motto for the North Forsyth Vikings football team since head coach Jay Blair and his staff took over. Last week they took to the field for their 7 on 7 spring game and Big Man Challenge. There is some excitement once again on Shattalon Drive.

A big problem for the Vikings in recent years has been the lack of players coming out to play for the team. So far, they have nearly 50 players come out this spring and expect to add more before the start of the year.  

The purpose of the game was to see how the team has progressed thus far this spring, said Blair. After having the chance to see his players in action, Blair said he was pleased with the development of his players.

“I think they grew from the day I stepped on campus and became head coach of North Forsyth football,” said Blair of the game. “They have worked their hardest to achieve everything that I set out for them to accomplish and they saw a glimpse of what they can be today.”

The skill position players participated in one-on-one drills, 7-on-7 passing drills and a full 7-on-7 scrimmage. Not to leave the big guys out, the offensive lineman had their own set of drills, which included a tug of war and the Big Man relay, just to name a few events.

Blair had a few things he wanted to see from his players during the game and the drills. He especially wanted to see what his players had retained from the first few days of spring ball.

“What I was looking for was basically their attention to detail and putting together what the previous nine days prepared us to be,” he said. “I wanted to make sure we executed on offense by knowing the signals and running the plays. On defense I wanted to see some communication on the back end with the coverages.

“They did well on defense and coach Williams has done a great job as our defensive coordinator, and Coach Ledbetter, with that brilliant mind of his, has gotten the guys on offense prepared to score us a lot of points.”

Blair stated he was impressed with his quarterback play, because he has two players that have yet to separate themselves from one another. “I have two quarterbacks that I am going to have to make a decision on soon and both of them went out and did an excellent job by recognizing coverages, finding what the defense gave them, and delivering the ball,” Blair said of his signal callers.

Even though Blair was happy with the overall performance of his team, he did feel there were a few things they needed to work on as they prepare for the season.  

“We are definitely going to work on our route running, because we were down a couple of receivers, so some guys had to step up,” he said. “Another thing was when we drove the ball down to the red zone, we had some trouble getting it in the end zone. But that also says that the defense is playing well though, but I still expect my offense to put it in the box when we get down there.”

The coaching staff is excited to see how many other players will come out for the team during the summer and preseason workouts. Blair says he loves the fact that so many kids come out to compete for position on the team.

“I am excited about what this summer brings us as far as the growth of the team,” he continued. “Now that they have the basics, it’s time to add on and get them ready to become champions.”

Blair takes little credit in the large number of kids that have come out thus far. He said everything he does is by design and many of the guys who have come out have been recruited by the players themselves.

“Having someone like Bernard Williams, or Chris Carter, Brett Mack, Coach Lane, or any of those guys that have been in those halls as a student athlete, and the passion, commitment and love for the school that they bring, they can’t help but go out and spread this message,” Blair said emphatically.