LJ FB: Workouts resume

Returning QB Jackson Diehl (second from right) and

junior Leed Smoole (second from left) were among

the 60 boys doing agility drills early Monday morning,

July 17, on the Edwards Stadium surface. Diehl

passed for 2,225 yards and scrambled for

another 171 in his junior campaign in 2022.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

6:25 a.m. LJHS football coach Tyler Roach pulled up near the side gate on Rushville.

6:31 a.m. The first two football players showed up, after a no-contact/no-workout period.

7:03 a.m. After Roach's reminder to get their athletic clearances in advance of regular season practice beginning July 31--"32 days till kickoff" against Bishop's--returning senior quarterback Jackson Diehl helped lead 60 boys into a planned two-hour workout without pads on the surface at Edwards Stadium.

After "getting a good stretch", at 7:20 athletes were divided into "JV's and freshmen"--to do agility drills outside the weight room at the southwest corner of the complex--and varsity on the main field.

"It's almost feels like we've never been away," remarked Roach to a reporter. The early morning weather was cool, about 66 degrees, with no wind, and the sounds of seagulls on the light standards and elsewhere surrounding the field.