By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
While prep football teams can’t hold their first official practice until July 30, several are going through 7-on-7 passing drills and minicamps in preparation for the season.
Washington Pam Pack coach Sport Sawyer, who led the Pack to a 6-6 mark last season, is anxious to get things started. He’ll hold a Punt, Pass &Kick competition for his players on Monday beginning at 4 p.m. at J.G. “Choppy” Wagner Stadium.
The team will go through a minicamp Tuesday and Thursday, also beginning at 4 p.m.
Sawyer noted that football physicals will be given on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
It’s all to help the Pack prepare for its season opener, which will be Aug. 17 at North Pitt. The Pack rolled to a 34-0 win over the Panthers, a member of the Class 2-A Eastern Plains Conference, last year.
Washington, a 3-A member of the Coastal Conference, will play its home opener the following week, welcoming Tarboro to town on Aug. 24 for the annual Victory Bell Bowl. The Pack claimed a 27-10 victory over the Vikings, another Eastern Plains Conference member, in 2006.
The Pack will renew its rivalry with the Northside Panthers at Northside on Aug. 31. It will be the first time the Pam Pack and Panthers, a 1-A Atlantic Conference member, will have clashed since 2000.
The teams, which played for the Anchor Bowl from 1989 to 2000, will play in Washington in 2008.
Washington holds an 8-4 mark over Northside in the series. The Pack’s last win came in 1999 with a 20-6 victory. Northside claimed a 28-6 win in 2000.
Following a bye week on Sept. 7, Washington will close out nonconference play Sept. 14 at home against Nash Central. The Bulldogs will be the first fellow 3-A team the Pack will have played in 2007. The Pack lost 26-14 in last year’s matchup.
Sawyer’s team begins Coastal Conference play Sept. 21 at home against D.H. Conley. The Pack earned a 20-7 win in 2006.
Washington’s second conference game, and third straight home game, will be Sept. 28 against South Central. The Pack dropped a 28-21 decision to the Falcons last season. It will be Walk of Fame night for the Pam Pack.
The Pam Pack’s first conference road test will be Oct. 5 at West Craven. Washington rolled to a 34-13 win last year.
Up next for the Pack will be back-to-back games against the 4-A teams in the conference. Washington travels to J.H. Rose on Oct. 12 and then plays host to New Bern on Oct. 19. Sawyer’s team, which lost 51-7 to Rose and 56-21 to New Bern last year, will be looking for its first victories over the Rampants and Bears since 1970.
Washington will end the regular season with a pair of road contests — Oct. 26 at Havelock and Nov. 2 at West Carteret. The Pack pulled out a 21-7 win over the Rams and a 31-7 victory over the Patriots last season.