Like Christmas Day, High School Football season officially arrived for many high schools across the state of Texas Monday and some coaches and players were too eager to get any sleep that night.
That was especially true for the Andrews Mustangs.
The Mustang football team began its first practice of the 2024 season at the exact strike of midnight, practicing under the lights of Mustang Bowl as the team held its first ever Midnight Madness.
“We’re really excited,” Andrews head coach Tom Harvey said. “Our community is excited. We’ve never done a Midnight Madness before, so this is new but you hear the excitement from the players n the dressing room. They got here early, maybe a little too early, but that’s fine. These guys have worked hard and we’re excited. We have aspirations for these guys.”
Monday was the start of football practice for all UIL schools including Class 5A and 6A teams that didn’t have spring football workouts.
That included the Odessa High Bronchos who enter the 2024 season under new management.
Former OHS quarterback and assistant Erik Hartman was named the new head coach during the summer, replacing Dusty Ortiz who left in May to take over at Creekview High School in Carrollton.
The Bronchos waited until 6 a.m. to get started at Joe Coleman Field.
“It’s exciting,” Hartman said of his first practice with his team since being named the new OHS head coach. “It was hard for us coaches to sleep last night. I’m going into my 27th year of coaching. It’s just that excitement level. We’re waking up early. I kept waking up at 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. and then finally got out at 4 a.m. We had kids showing up early, too. it’s just the excitement of it all. That’s what we want. We want to build that excitement and continue it into football season.”
Hartman comes in having previously served as the offensive coordinator over in Corsicana.
He is a 1993 graduate of Odessa High.
He talked about what it’s like to go from being an OHS player to an assistant to coming back and being the head coach of his alma mater.
“It’s funny making those transitions because you have that excitement as a player and then as an assistant coach. We wanted to bring the energy and I want to do the same thing as a head coach, but there’s so much planning that goes into it … You have to make sure that you have it planned right. I thought today went great. ” Hartman said.
The first practice has been just getting players up to speed and learning the Bronchos’ new offense.
“We’re just seeing some guys because we didn’t see everyone during the summer so they’re trying to catch up and a lot of the guys that were here during the summer are still learning the offense,” Hartman said. “We’re evaluating some the guys that I haven’t seen yet.”
Hartman also said the first two days of practice are about getting used to everything, including the heat.
“That’s what these first two days are,” Hartman said. “They’re about acclimating to the weather and everything. We’ll go shoulder pads and helmets for three days. We’re shaking the rust off these guys and getting them back into shape. We did some things at the end of strength and conditioning with our offense where our guys looked a little gassed so they have time to get in shape.”
The Bronchos’ first scrimmage will be on Aug. 16 at Lubbock Cooper.
Odessa High’s first game will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 against Amarillo High at Ratliff Stadium.
ANDREWS: The Mustangs are coming off a 6-6 showing from 2023 which included a run to the area round of the playoffs.
However, with nine players returning on offense and seven on defense, there’s plenty of reason for optimism for Andrews.
Harvey, who enters his third season as head coach of the Mustangs, talked about what the first week of practice is usually like.
“A lot of it is just getting dressed and getting out on the field and making sure that everything fits and make sure everybody’s paperwork is sent in and making sure everyone that we expect to show up has shown up and those kind of things,” Harvey said.
Among the players returning for the Mustangs is running back Jasean DeBouse who ran for 2,236 yards and 25 touchdowns last year.
“I’m pretty excited,” DeBouse said of the new season. “We have a lot in front of us this season. We plan on having big numbers this season to show for our city.”
While DeBouse has already received an offer from UTEP, he’s focused mainly on his junior season.
“All I’m trying to do is keep a level head and get better,” DeBouse said. “My goal this year is to have three thousand yards and thirty touchdowns.”
