​Eagles football see record numbers during offseason OTAs

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 
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The Grain Valley football team continues to grow.
 
Actually, it is growing so much that head coach David Allie said when the new school year starts, he could have the largest team in the history of the program.
 
That is evidenced by the increase in numbers that Allie and his coaching staff have seen this summer during mini camps and organized team activities.
 
Mini camp ran May 28 through June 4, and the Eagles had two organized team activity sessions so far in June. On average, Grain Valley has had 137 students participate in offseason workouts, which is the most Allie has had since he became the coach in 2014.
 
“We have a lot of guys coming out which is good,” Allie said. “It brings a lot of competition. A lot of people are working hard trying to get better.”
 
Players like DJ Pechar noted others on the team are ramping up their recruiting efforts and are getting their friends to join the team. Even some upperclassmen are trying out football for the first time.
 
“I would like to think the success had something to do with it,” Allie said. “We have good kids who are trying to get better. Our youth league is doing a good job. It’s been a group effort to get these kids out. We have some upperclassmen coming out to play for the first time, which is good.
 
“We are getting some guys who are playing other sports to participate and there are some kids who moved out of the district who have come back. It’s a variety of things. We have a good group of freshmen coming in, too.”
 
Added Pechar: “We are recruiting other guys who are just athletes. The practice schedule is a little bit harder but it’s going to make us better. We are getting a lot of reps in.”
 
Allie said there have been about 40 freshman and 97 varsity players who have participated in summer activities. In the camps and organized team activities, Allie said he likes to focus on one aspect of football per workout. One day, he said he will have a defense-focused OTA then he will switch to an offensive focus the next.
 
“A lot of the stuff we do is similar to previous years,” Allie said. We like to split them up into offensive and defensive days for our two-way players. We have some kids who play on the offensive and defensive line.”
 
From June 8-10 Eagles took 69 players to the annual Pittsburg State University camp, which is one of the largest they attend each season. At those camps, Grain Valley gets to scrimmage against other teams in the Midwest including teams from Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
 
At that camp, the Eagles got an early idea of what the team could look like this fall. Allie and his players were pleased with how things went.
 
“It is always good to go down there and see some teams that you don’t get to see during the season,” Allie said. “We came out injury free which is a huge thing.”
 
“We probably had the nicest weather we ever had at the camp. It was overcast most days and it rained one of those days. Usually it’s really hot outside when we go there. Pittsburg State is a class program and they know how to run their camp and they know how to win.”
 
Added senior quarterback Chase Neer: “We looked a lot better than last year. There were a lot tougher teams there than last year and we still held our own.
 
“The offensive and defensive lines looked pretty darn good. We are not the biggest team but they definitely held their own.”
 
Pechar echoed similar sentiments to Neer.
 
“We got a good start to our summer,” Pechar said. “We got some things to work on. But it’s all minor things that aren’t going to be a big issue. I think we are going to be pretty good this year.”
 
 
 

Photo credit: Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
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