Offensive linemen for the Farmersville football team working on a blocking drill as offensive line coach John Searson observes Monday morning. Photo by David Wolman / C&S Media
By David Wolman
With a red sky appearing from the east and the temperature hovering around 70 degrees at 6 a.m. Monday morning for the start of the first official day of fall practice, coaches at Farmersville and Princeton welcomed the mild temperatures.
It was a particularly welcome sight for the football and cross-country teams, who practice outside.
“The football gods have blessed us this morning, for sure,” said Farmersville head football coach Zac Quinlan. “It’s beautiful outside, and with all the wet bulb rules, it’s nice to start out with some nice weather.”
The University Interscholastic League (UIL) officially mandated the use of Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) readings – transitioning from a two-year recommendation to a strict requirement starting Aug. 1, for all outdoor athletic and marching band activities. WBGT measures environmental heat stress by combining air temperature, humidity, wind speed and direct solar radiation.
Farmersville and Princeton both have indoor facilities for their teams to use in case the outside temperature is above the mandated threshold, but both schools have already purchased WBGT equipment to prepare in case the teams are forced to move inside because of excessive heat.
Quinlan and his coaching staff began looking into the use and purchase of WGBT equipment in February. An athletic trainer constantly monitors the device and relays any relevant information to the coaching staff should the team need to be moved inside.
“It’s a safety issue,” Quinlan said. “It’s one of those things that there’s been enough kids that have been harmed by the weather. It’s causing more heat-related illnesses and deaths, so they did what they needed to do to prevent that.”
The temperature was more than comfortable for Princeton’s first football practice with new head coach Daniel Johnson but focus and intensity were on full display.
Johnson, who had served as Princeton’s offensive coordinator for the previous three seasons, ran into the huddle and the line of scrimmage to make sure each player was lined up correctly and to make sure they knew which play was being run.
Johnson is hopeful to build off the success of his predecessor, Ervin Chandler, who led Princeton to a 6-4 record last year for the Panthers’ first season with a winning record since 2015. Chandler is now the assistant athletic director for Princeton ISD.
After losing a large senior class to graduation, Princeton will have to fill several spots, especially on offense, as the Panthers return just one starter on that side of the ball.
Farmersville is also looking for players to step into bigger roles after the Farmers lost several key players to graduation, including at running back and in the front seven on defense.
Defensive end and linebacker are the most glaring holes for Farmersville’s defense, a unit that suffered injuries toward the end of last season and allowed at least 40 points per game over the last four games – a stretch of play that saw Farmersville go 0-4 and miss the playoffs for the first time in three years.
The good news for Farmersville is that it returns a pair of three-year starters in senior wide receiver Amare Warren and senior quarterback Levi McAbee. Warren also stars at cornerback.
The Farmersville volleyball team is in search of a 13th consecutive playoff appearance, while the Princeton Lady Panthers seek better results in its third season in District 6-6A and second season under the direction of head coach Yolanda Beasley.
Both the Lady Farmers and Lady Panthers held team tryouts last Saturday. Both teams will open the season at home next Tuesday afternoon.
Farmersville senior Breelynn Pollard is in search of back-to-back berths in the Class 4A state cross country meet and the Farmer boys’ cross-country team will look to build on a regional meet appearance.
Princeton will look for a new lead runner for both the boys’ and girls’ teams, especially on the girls’ side. Gabriella Trejo, a four-time regional qualifier and a two-time state qualifier, graduated in May.
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