At the strike of midnight Monday, July 30, high school football practice began across the state of Virginia when Louisa County hit the field for Midnight Madness.
The Lions practiced for just over two hours in front of students and fans in The Jungle. It's a tradition former head coach Mark Fischer started almost ten years ago at LCHS.
Louisa enters its second season under head coach Jon Meeks, who finished 7-4 in his first year at the helm in 2011 after serving as the program's defensive coordinator.
LCHS has won seven games or more in four straight seasons with three straight playoff appearances.
The team believes Midnight Madness sets the tone for the season.
"The goal is to be the first team on the field and the last team off," said Meeks. "That should be your goal every year. We always make sure we're the first one on. The best anybody can do is tie us, and our goal is to make sure we're playing longer than anybody."
"We definitely get a lot more hyped and pumped up for the whole scenery and everything," said senior linebacker/offensive tackle Josh Lemon. "Being the first ones on the field and hopefully the last ones off sometime in the future."
"Everyone has tradition, and this is our tradition that we've just grown on," said senior quarterback/free safety Zack Jackson. "It's just wonderful for us to just be able to come here as a team at 12:00. It's just unique. Not everyone does it."
The team likes the fan support.
"They don't have to come out here at 12:00 at night to come watch us, but it's always packed," said Jackson. "We have a lot of people come from the school, a lot of people come from the community, and it's just an excitement. It's a rush, and I love it."
"I really love the fact that the whole community gets into it," said Lemon. "It really shows a lot about what Louisa is really."
Albemarle High School also took the field for the first day of practice Monday.
Mike Alley is in his third season as head coach, trying to rebuild the program.
"I was up at 4:00 this morning pumped up about this year," said Alley. "We have a great group of young men. It's probably the first year we've had some great workouts in the offseason, so we're excited."
Alley says the team is still young, but they finally have some depth.
"We've been rebuilding, and our kids are dedicated," Alley said. "We had 75 kids show up today, and we have something we haven't had here in a couple years. It's called depth. We're very young. We don't have many seniors, but we have a lot of juniors and sophomores that are hungry to earn a starting position."
At Western Albemarle High School, it's the coaching debut for new Warrior head football coach Ed Redmond.
He had his guys take the field at 5:00 Monday evening for a three-hour session.
Redmond has been coaching football for 30 years, most recently at his high school alma mater in New York.
He takes over for Ed Pierce, who resigned in January after five successful seasons in Crozet.
"I've been doing this a long time, but I feel like it's new to me," said Redmond. "That's the exciting part about working with kids. They instill that in me...that passion. I think kids are going to follow that and play with some passion and excitement."
The team is eager to start another successful era of Warrior football.
"It's great to get out here," said WAHS senior wide receiver/outside linebacker/safety Daniel Kuzjak. "This is what you play for your entire life. You're always working hard just to get here. It's great. I'm trying to live in the moment and enjoy it as it is."
