It has become customary over the last decade or so when Louisa County’s football team takes the field for the first time to practice in late summer that it does so with a roaring public address announcer and a large crowd as soundtrack and setting.
Oh, and it happens at 12:01 a.m.
Not this year though as the Lions dropped their Midnight Madness tradition in favor of what coach Mark Fischer is calling a Sunrise Service, a 6 a.m. start. It was actually 6:20 a.m. by the time they got on the field after after a lock-in in the school’s gym that included a talk from a Navy Seal. The move came, as it often does at Louisa with a particularly strong commitment to the theme, highlighted by team t-shirts. It wasn’t the only change for Louisa.
“We’re doing things a lot different this year,” Fischer said.
One of the big changes for the Lions is a pared down coaching staff, a change from the larger staffs Louisa has favored recently with the junior varsity and varsity practicing together under a single staff. But Fischer has instead built a junior varsity staff and built a smaller varsity staff.
“The coaches are so much more involved,” Fischer said. “We kind of lacked that continuity, and now some guys will be playing for the same guy on both sides of the ball. Most everybody does that but we were just trying to do something different (before).”
There are role changes too, with Fischer taking over the defense for the first time in years as Will Patrick takes full control of the offense which Fischer said he’d essentially been running the past two seasons. The Lions also have a new rallying cry, printed on the back of those Sunrise Service shirts, #wantto. The idea of want-to, a combination of a burning desire to be good with the fortitude to see the job through, is common among coaches, but at Louisa those phrases have a tendency to take on a life of their own.
“It ain’t a word, but there’s a lot of things that aren’t words that I used that seem to get the point across,” Fischer said.
Those adjustments seem to have given Louisa a renewed excitement too, and Fischer pointed to the players as the source of that energy.
“I’m excited about this bunch of boys, as excited as I’ve been,” Fischer said. “We just got back from Hampden Sydney and it was the best camp we’ve ever had. We’ve got a tighter knit group, we’ve got a couple of transfers that we’re excited about.”
The Lions are replacing some key cogs from last year like linemen Noah Verling and Malik Johnson, but with bell cow running back Job Whalen back in the fold, Devante Shelton at linebacker, three-year starter Malik Minor at corner and Quinton Ragland up front, the Lions clearly have a lot of the right pieces in place. They’ve certainly got Fischer excited.
“They’re focused and they’re intent and they’re willing,” Fischer said. “They’re hungry.”
