The Lehman football program opened two-a-days Monday, and for several players it couldn’t have come any sooner.Wide receiver Brandon Hamilton had been marking off the days on a calendar on his fridge, and running back Paul Brown was working a summer job that he was more than happy to give up for the offensive drills and wind sprints that kicked off the first morning of fall football.

 

“I love it,” Brown said, catching his breath between sprints. “Just being out here, strength and conditioning right now makes you feel so good. I don’t want to be anywhere else right now.”

Nearly 100 varsity and junior varsity players, and around 50 freshmen, turned out for two-a-days. Each varsity player wore a shirt that said “BELIEVE” across the back, with head coach Todd Raymond urging them to set their sights on nothing short of the school’s first playoff berth.

“The kids are having a blast,” Raymond said as he watched the second-team offense taking snaps. “They get a little overwhelmed at — aw, you gotta catch that! Hey, you took your eyes off the ball — but the kids are all fired up, so it’s going well.”

Brown said he and his Lobo teammates do believe they can achieve Raymond’s playoff goal for Lehman.

“He gave us a whole new mindset that we don’t have to live in the past, and we can really change something around here,” he said. “I think that’s where this team is going to go this year.”

Lehman is also looking to gain ground after posting its first winning season a year ago, with a 6-4 mark under then-head coach Steve Davis. With Raymond taking the reigns in February and instituting spring football for the first time ever, Brown said the players made a lot of improvements that carried over from the spring.

The first-team offense looked especially sharp during its first 100 snaps on Monday morning, he said.

“We clicked pretty well right off the get-go, so if we can just keep that momentum every day, we’ll be in tip-top condition,” Brown said.

Hamilton said he was getting used to his helmet again and having fun.

“You can tell who’s been working and who hasn’t been,” he said. “It shows who put in the work during the summer and who’s been working out.”

According to cornerback Kyron Morrissette, the Lobos have the skills to succeed, they just need to focus on their intensity and aggressiveness — and a few more specific things like making open-field tackles and getting off their blocks.

“We came out with a lot of intensity and were ready to go,” he said. “It felt great today. I’m just ready to get back to playing football. I’ve been working all summer, and now it’s time to show it.”

Lehman has scheduled its Lobo Kickoff and Blue and Silver Scrimmage for Saturday evening, with freshman scrimmages at 5 p.m.; band, cheer and football introductions at 6 p.m. and varsity and JV scrimmages at 6:30.

The Lobos are also set to scrimmage at Canyon Lake on Aug. 24, followed by the season opener against Cedar Ridge on Aug. 31 at Shelton Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.