Spring football practices may be over, but that doesn’t mean the Keith High School Bears are done preparing for the upcoming season.

After concluding spring practices with a home football jamboree against Selma High School and St. Jude on May 18, Keith head football coach Harry Crum said he was pleased with spring as a whole.

“I think that it went pretty well. I had more participation than I’ve ever had since I’ve been out there at Keith,” Crum said. “I think we ended up with 31 (players) dressed for our spring game. I thought that was just exceptional. We had some guys that weren’t there for whatever reason, and some guys that were out with injuries. If we’re to the point where we’re hitting full throttle and have everyone participating, I think it’ll be a real good year.”

Crum said key players such as defensive end Kendrigue Jones and fullback/linebacker Terrell Valazquez missed spring practices with injuries, but will be ready in the fall.

Crum added he was impressed with the efforts he saw from his young players, such as 8th grade linemen Joshua Thomas and Morris Collins.

Crum was also impressed with freshman defensive back Eric Young, as well as running back Delmuss Irby, who had strong runs against Selma and St. Jude during the spring jamboree game on May 18.

While spring has ended, Crum said the Bears’ work has just begun.

“UAB (University of Alabama-Birmingham) is having a camp on June 2 and some of our seniors will be attending that,” Crum said, “and I’m trying to get 25 to 30 players to go to the Southeastern Wing-T Camp that’s on June 14-17, so my ambition is to take at least 20 players to that. That could be monumental as far as everybody learning the system, and for the one’s who know it just to get a refresher course on the specific details and nuances of the offense.”

The Bears will also continue with summer strength and conditioning following the Wing-T camp.