By Robert Hudson

The Selma Times-Journal

It was another sweltering day, but that didn’t stop local high school football teams as Alabama High School Athletic Association schools continued daily practices.

The beginning of a new era continued at Southside High School as new head coach Bertrum Crum went over the basics with his new team.

“Today was promising,” Crum said. “We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a lot of young guys. My main focus is discipline, conditioning and fundamentals.”

Crum had the Panthers run through position-specific drills to work on footwork, blocking technique and quarterback awareness.

The Selma High School football team worked on aspects of all phases of the game in what head coach Leroy Miles called a “good practice.”

“I thought it went well,” Miles said. “I thought the practice was high tempo and the kids came with a work attitude and they got the job done.”

The Saints went over special teams and defensive assignments as well as offensive passing and running plays.

Miles said the team went over a lot of fundamentals.

“We had some teaching assignments,” Miles said. “We’ve got some new coaches, some new ideas. We did a lot of teaching today. I thought we got a lot done.”

While AHSAA schools are still practicing in shorts and helmets, Alabama Independent School Association teams are starting to put on full equipment.

Meadowview Christian School head coach John Glasscock used the Trojans’ first day in full pads to go over the basics.

“We didn’t do as much hitting as probably most people do on the first day in pads,” Glasscock said. “We mainly did form tackling, and not even full speed.

“We just were working on getting our heads in the right position, locking up, getting a good base and driving our feet.”