A Bubble Off Plumb

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  • A Bubble Off Plumb
    A Bubble Off Plumb
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It’s nearly 8 a.m. on an August Saturday. Leg muscles glisten and quiver, tense and push as the players attached to the legs prepare for the coming hit, whether it is give or get.

Coaches yell and there is the occasional swear word, but this is football. There is no meanness here, though. The depth of intensity is a product of how much everyone on the field cares.

The sun is well up and the heat leftover from last night is back with its own intensity. The yelling is interspersed with micro coaching sessions – ‘Hit here, not there’ or ‘put your feet like this’ or ‘be here’ and constantly over it all, “Pursue the ball, pursue, pursue, pursue.”

This is a young Watonga Eagles team, with only three seniors suiting up. Head Coach Clint Benway is new to this position, as young at Watonga as his players.

But it is easy to see how much he cares, how much he wants for the players. It’s evident in the way he talks with them one on one as they come to him with their issues.

Man, if you need to be at work, go to work, he explains to a youngster who is excusing himself from an afternoon teambuilding exercise. He tells another where and how to find the appropriate jersey for team photos later that day and quietly cheers on still a third who is tardy and running laps as penance.

He hugs kids, high fives and ruffles hair. He is a cross between a coach, goofy big brother, and a wise pop.

There is an air of restrained urgency everywhere. Not just because it is media day, but because the team knows what they are up against. They are young. They have a new coach and no reputation as a regional powerhouse. That reputation and the respect it commands take time to build and must be earned.

But it is obvious to see that the coaching staff and the players accept that and are willing to put in the time it and practice and hard knocks earning it will require.

Maybe the Eagles aren’t headed to a state playoff berth this year. But it is there, waiting, building like an oncoming wave, as surely as the August heat will build as the day wears on. While the wave might not arrive this year, it is on its way, as inexorably as the heat we can expect next summer.

Grab a seat in the bleachers or a spot on the sidelines and watch. It is going to be a great season.