BLACKSBURG, Va. (WVDN) – Last weekend the Greenbrier East football team took a trip to Blacksburg, Va., and made their way to the confines of Virginia Tech for a 7-on-7 tourney and a big man challenge and performed well in both.
The big guys took home second place overall after excelling in drills such as sled racing, bench pressing, one-on-ones, fireman’s carry and bear crawls, among others. Sixteen total schools participated which makes East’s performance that much more impressive.
Nine Spartan linemen competed. Most of the events required 10 participants, so a couple Spartans had to go twice in the same competition which is something they were willing to step up and do.
“Our linemen really battled today and were able to put together what I think has been a really nice offseason for them. They have worked hard this winter, just like all of our kids, and that work paid off at VT. Our lineman group only had two seniors in it, which speaks well of two things, their leadership as seniors and our young lineman stepping up in a competitive environment,” said defensive coordinator Aaron Baker, whose son, Rhett is a lineman on the team.
In the 7-on-7 portion of the camp, 25 teams were on hand including the Spartans. East played Appomattox, Princeton, Highland Springs, Graham and St. Michael. Princeton scored a late touchdown to win 21-15, but according to Baker, the experience was good for his guys.
“The kids played really well today and really learned a lot. Being young in quite a few positions is going to be a challenge, but the young guys stepped up and played well,” Baker said.
“We used the tournament as a teaching tool to try to get our kids some early competition in order to get a lot of new guys ready for the regular season. The kids played tough against some really good teams, and we were able to give the kids an opportunity to use a big-time environment like Virginia Tech to get some extra work in,” he continued.
The coaching staff at East is really excited about this upcoming season and the Blacksburg event solidified that enthusiasm.
“As a staff we are glad we had the chance to be a part of a tournament such as this and appreciate VT for hosting such a tremendous event. We are proud of our kids putting in an extra day of work, trying to perfect their skills, which will make us better as a team. Having begun our June practice period, we have a great group of young men who work hard every day they get the chance,” Baker said.
“We have a lot of young guys who are going to be needed this year and we are extremely excited for the way they work each and every day,” he said.
