Prep time

It may be July still, but the prep football season is right around the corner, with 24 days to go until the first day of practice on Aug. 20.

The South Kitsap High School football team concluded its week-long camp yesterday to the satisfaction of SK coach D.J. Sigurdson.

Sigurdson said the camp served an important purpose of getting the young players on the same page with the veteran players.

“This is a big week for us,” Sigurdson said. “This is a nice time to work on some things in an environment that’s not stressful.”

Senior quarterback Josh Fullington said the camp benefits the players and coaches.

“You don’t want to walk into first day of practice being yelled at by coaches to get things done and not knowing what you’re doing,” he said. “It helps a lot to get people on the same page so seniors aren’t ticked off at the sophomores.”

Sigurdson said a cohesive group of sophomores makes for smooth transitions from one coaching station to the next.

“I want to make sure that on the first day we don’t have to teach the newcomers how to do the necks or something else,” Sigurdson said. “This (camp) gives us a good running start and keeps from there being any setbacks.”

Of course the week also gives Sigurdson a chance to evaluate the talent he has and the depth — or lack thereof — he has to work with this season.

While he knows what he has with his returning varsity players, it’s the emergence of underclassmen that allows him to fill holes vacated by last year’s senior class.

What he sees is a similar group of athletes, offering a nice mixture of speed and strength.

“We don’t have the blazers (we had last year) like Nick (Anderson) and Victor (Valle),” Sigurdson said. “But we have a bunch of guys that are pretty fast. We can run well.”

While Sigurdson said every player needs to get better, he also said he already likes the mental makeup of this year’s squad.

“We have to get better at every spot, but I’m happy with the work ethic and attitude,” he said. “I’m not disappointed at all.”

If there’s one thing Sigurdson is slightly disappointed with is the upcoming schedule. The Wolves will play six of their first seven games on the road, with no home games in September.

Sigurdson said they worked hard trying to fill a Sept. 5 date, but couldn’t find an opponent willing to come to Port Orchard.

Bothell was set to make the trek over, but the KingCo Conference moved its season back to accommodate the extra week added to the season.

“We got Snohomish (Sept. 12), and we wanted a high-quality opponent to come here,” Sigurdson said. “We thought we needed a home game, but that was pretty limiting. It was just too late in the year for us to find an opponent.”

Instead, the Wolves will play in a jamboree with North Thurston, River Ridge, and Kelso.

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