Players growled, students roared and several hundred people in the stands cheered.
“These students do such a great job,” Elks coach Brent Ullery said. “They turn out and it’s almost like an official kickoff to the school year. School starts in two weeks and it’s kind of like, ’Hey, let’s get back together and get fall sports ready.’”
The tradition dates to the 1970s and ’80s. When Ullery was a senior football player in 2002 for the Elks, he and his teammates heard about the old tradition and asked for it back.
“There were about three dads and maybe one girlfriend in the stands,” Ullery said. “And we had our first night of hitting at midnight and tried to be the first team in the state to hit. It’s just grown immensely into this phenomenal community event.”
The event kicked off earlier in the evening and youth football and fire trucks were involved in the celebration. After the first hit by Powers and Coppock, other players squared off. Black practice jerseys going against gold practice jerseys. The hitting progressed from one on one to blockers trying to free a ballcarrier to get 10 yards. Cheers erupted with each rep and football players beat on each others’ shoulder pads.
After 15 minutes, they went to the goal line for 11 on 11 for another 15 minutes. The defense won most of those battles.
“This is very fun getting the community out here, everyone getting to see what we put in on a daily basis during the summer,” senior quarterback Drake Wells said.
The Elks tied for second in the Greater Western Ohio Conference last year at 5-2, finished 10-3 overall and won two playoff games before losing to state runner-up Springfield. Wells quarterbacked the Elks until he was injured in a Week 7 victory over Beavercreek. Before he suffered a broken collarbone, he completed 63.5% of his passes for 1,184 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He resumed football activities and weight lifting in December.
“He’s got experienced under the gun, he’s got big wins under the gun when he had to score points and had to help move the ball,” Ullery said. “So we’re looking forward to him being back out there. I think the offense is more comfortable when he’s out there. He’s been a great student of the game all offseason, all preseason.”
Wells has Division III offers from Rose-Hulman, Oberlin and Ohio Northern. He missed out on the camp season and being seen by college coaches this summer because of a stress fracture in the C7 vertebrae in his neck. He’s hoping the season will bring in more offers.
“This is my make or break,” he said. “But I don’t think about that when I’m out there. I’m just thinking about getting my assignments.”
Braylon Newcomb replaced the injured Wells and ran more than he threw. Newcomb was 5-2 as a starter with wins over Fairmont, Wayne and Northmont. Both losses came against Springfield. Newcomb, a 5-foot-8 junior, will be a running and pass-catching playmaker at H-back this season.
Wells’ job will be to get the ball in the hands of Newcomb, wide receiver Jamar Montgomery (38 catches last year), tight end Bryce Cowgill (18 catches) and running back Daniel Kamara, a transfer who rushed for 1,384 yards and 13 touchdowns at Springfield Catholic Central last year.
“He’ll be successful at this level,” Ullery said of Kamara. “I couldn’t speak more highly of the kid. He came in day one, said what do I need to do. He’s done it every day. He’s phenomenal to coach.”
There are slight changes to the offense this year that Wells is learning and helping his teammates to learn. For Ullery, enough has changed in personnel as well that the offense is still evolving.
“I’m looking forward to us finding an identity,” Ullery said. “I don’t think we really know who we are. I think parts of our team feel like we can fit into the mold of last year’s team, but we’re different. Players are different. We have different skill sets. Guys have graduated. Guys are growing up.”
Defense was the Elks’ primary identity last year. Some good players graduated, but Powers and Coppock are back to lead the unit again. Powers has committed to play safety at Michigan State, and Coppock has FCS Division I and Division II offers to play in the secondary.
“It’s definitely stress free,” Powers said of his commitment. “I feel like now that I got that figured out I can just focus on the team and just be a great leader.”
Other key players returning on defense are defensive back Seth Alejandrino and linemen Mason Keely and Loukas Smith.
“We’ve got some talent over there,” Ullery said. “But again they’ve got to figure out what they do best because they’re not last year’s seniors. I’m just excited for the next couple of weeks.”
The Elks open the season Aug. 18 at home against Lakota East, a team under the direction of first-year coach Jon Kitna, a former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback who spent 14 seasons in the NFL. East finished 3-7 last season.
“It’s been good having everyone together just working as a team again,” Powers said. “It was a great night tonight, we competed a lot. We’re going to have a great year.”
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