Rain drives Panthers inside

n The team wrapped up its first two weeks of practice on Friday.

Graham Thomas/Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs senior receiver Tristan Moose, No. 26, awaits the pass from sophomore quarterback Taylor Pool during the Panthers’ football practice on Monday, Aug. 7, at Panther Stadium. The Panthers’ practice outside on Friday morning was cut short because of a thunderstorm, but the team finished its time with a weight-lifting session.
Graham Thomas/Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs senior receiver Tristan Moose, No. 26, awaits the pass from sophomore quarterback Taylor Pool during the Panthers’ football practice on Monday, Aug. 7, at Panther Stadium. The Panthers’ practice outside on Friday morning was cut short because of a thunderstorm, but the team finished its time with a weight-lifting session.

Siloam Springs didn't get to finish its football practice outside on Friday morning, but the day was not a total loss.

A thunderstorm rolled through western Benton County around 7 a.m. Friday, forcing the Panthers to go indoors for the final hour of their practice.

Before practice had even started Friday morning, it looked like there was a chance that it might be cut short because of weather.

Siloam Springs head coach Bryan Ross said the Panthers got some work in before having to go indoors.

"We got some quality minutes of scrimmage time, so it's not a lost day, for sure," Ross said. "Obviously, we would have liked to have gone longer, but you can only do what the weather allows you to do.

"I was pretty pleased with the intensity. We saw some game-like situations. We tried to divide them up equally and got a game-like look."

The Panthers came in and lifted weights for the remainder of their practice time. They hadn't lifted weights since Monday because the 6 to 8 a.m. practice slot on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday didn't lend enough time to do so.

Another added bonus of the bad weather was the wet ball practice. Teams want to simulate as much as possible during practice for preparation for the season, including rainy conditions.

Practice began under rainy conditions before the lightning forced everyone off the field.

"It wasn't (raining) super, super hard, but it was coming down enough to keep everything wet."

Ross said the Panthers struggled a bit with the wet ball.

"But that's a good thing," he said. "We've got to be prepared for it. In a real game, we would have had more balls out there and kept them dry and everything, but our center and all our skill guys have to be able to handle a wet ball."

The conclusion of Friday's practice wrapped up two weeks of work for the Panthers, who began on July 31.

"I like what we've got," Ross said. "As far as our skill (positions), I think we've improved there. We just don't have a lot of depth. We've got a lot of guys that are playing both ways some. It still comes down to staying healthy."

Ross said junior running back Kaiden Thrailkill was held out of practice on Friday because of a sore ankle.

"His ankle was kinda bothering him," Ross said. "Nothing major there, we just wanted to be safe with him. Not push him too hard too fast. Doesn't seem to be any structural problems, it's just sore. No need to do something stupid early in the year."

The Panthers' practices will move to afternoons from here on out, beginning Monday with the first day of school.

"Monday, we'll start our normal routine," Ross said. "That's a good thing because we'll have everybody here, we'll get in a routine and not have to worry about extenuating circumstances."

Sports on 08/12/2017