By Nathan Kanter

Senior Vikings excited about possibilities this season

Sep 2, 2016 | 7:15 AM

The first day of September brought with it some of the warmest weather of the summer, but that didn’t stop 40 teenagers from running around outside in the hot sun after school.

That’s because the North Battleford Comprehensive High School senior Vikings football squad was holding it’s fourth practice in four days.

Head coach Mike Humenny’s only complaint of camp so far just happened to be weather related, as he briefly mentioned his displeasure with current cardio levels, but other than the heat, there was nothing but positive news.

The team returns 32 players from last season, including its quarterback, Damon Dutton, who started every game last year for the Vikings. The entire coaching staff returns as well, something Humenny says is more important than anything else.

“Last year coming into the season, the expectations weren’t really there for them. They really didn’t know what to expect,” Hemenny said following Thursday’s practice. “Whereas this year … it’s just that level of continuity and everybody is on the same page. You can see this week, I’m not going to say it went seamless, but camp [has gone] really well for us.”

Trades in Sask.

Skilled trades need not limited to building homes

17h ago

Battlefords Volleyball Club

13U BVC Impact take provincial silver in Warman

21h ago

Spirit Group

Battleford Community Spirit Group needs members to stay open

22h ago

Instead of spending time in practice working on basic fundamentals, the group can focus on team play on both sides of the ball.

Best of all, it allows more time for scrimmaging, which is the closest players will get to real-game situations.

“Last year, at this same point, we were nowhere near where we are right now,” Hemenny said. “[Now] we’re able to get into scrimmage situations and a lot of good things are happening. We’re making adjustments on the fly and we’ve been really happy with it so far.”

Dutton is noticing how well camp is going as well.

“We’ve come along really well,” he said. “We’re coming together as a unit. Spring camp helped us a lot. It kind of just took off from there. I think we’re really going to do great this season.”

Going through a disappointing 2-5 season as a team one year ago will help, Dutton thinks. Last year’s players all smarted from that experience, but now can make better decisions.

“I think we learned a lot last year about how to run stuff and what to see when,” Dutton said. “What we do, when we do it. I think we’re going to be smarter about it. Our execution will be better.”

The season opener for the senior Vikings is set for Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m. at Beaver Lions Stadium against the Tommy Douglas Tigers.

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.Kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11.