Another deep playoff run isn’t a stretch for Warriors this year
- By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI | The Winchester Star
- Aug 1, 2018
Quarterback Hunter Entsminger, the reigning Winchester Star Offensive Player of the Year, returns for Sherando this season. Entsminger passed for 2,736 yards and 33 touchdowns last season.
- Scott Mason/The Winchester Star
JoJo Doleman was a standout at linebacker and running back for Sherando last season. Doleman had 80 tackles, three sacks and a team-high four fumble recoveries on defense and rushed for 372 yards and eight touchdowns on offense.
- Scott Mason/The Winchester Star
STEPHENS CITY — After finishing one win short of playing for a Class 4 state football championship last year, the Sherando football team went into the offseason looking to take whatever steps necessary to make it to the title game in 2018.
In order to put themselves in a position that the current players haven’t been in before, one of those steps involved putting their bodies in some positions that they had never been in before.
“We did some yoga this summer, which helped a lot,” said Sherando 6-1, 255-pound Nick Corbit, an All-Class 4 Northwestern District selection on both the offensive and defensive line last year, following Monday’s practice. “At first I didn’t think much of it, but then we just started doing it, and flexibility comes in.
“It just makes your body feel better, it’s injury prevention — all that kind of stuff that gets you through the season is super important.”
Sherando had plenty to feel good about after last season. The Warriors return seven starters on offense and seven on defense from a team that went 11-3 and won the Region 4C and Class 4 Northwestern District titles.
The returning starting group includes the region’s Offensive Player of the Year (senior quarterback Hunter Entsminger), Defensive Player of the Year (senior linebacker JoJo Doleman) and versatile running back T.J. Washington, an all-region selection who had 204.4 all-purpose yards per game and 33 touchdowns last year. (The returning starting contingent does not include senior Isaiah Allen, an all-region offensive and defensive lineman last year. Sherando coach Bill Hall said Allen decided not to come out for the team this year.)
Experience and talent help, but Sherando wouldn’t be where it is without the work it puts in during the offseason. Hall thought yoga would be a worthwhile addition to this year’s regimen.
“You’re always trying to analyze and see, ‘How can you make things better?” said Hall in the Sherando coaches’ office on Monday.
Hall said in the summer of 2017, Sherando did explosive performance training on Mondays and Thursdays, but in 2018 he wanted to do something different to help recover for the second explosive session while still being productive.
Last summer, Tuesdays and Wednesdays involved running. This offseason, Tuesdays were used as days for lifting and an hour of skill work, and Wednesdays were used for yoga, which Hall notes is becoming more popular with college programs. Hall said the yoga sessions were directed by Sherando assistant coach Jake Smith’s wife Alee.
“She did it with the design of things that we needed to make sure we were really good at in terms of flexibility, core strength, all that stuff,” Hall said. “She does a lot of personal training, and she kind of jumped at the opportunity because she’s very invested in the program because of her husband.”
Now that the season has started, Hall said Sherando plans on continuing the yoga sessions as part of their work on Saturdays. On that day, the Warriors typically watch film on offense and special teams, do a light run and stretch, then watch defensive film.
“I think it makes us better all the way around,” Hall said. “Core strength, flexibility, mental focus.
“The great thing about it is that the guys were all in. When you say yoga, some people are like, ‘What the heck?’ We would lift first, and then do yoga [in the wrestling room], and when our guys left there, the place was just wringing wet. The floors were completely saturated. If you ask one of our guys about yoga, they’ll tell you they had a better workout doing yoga then anything they did. It was really challenging to them, and I think that’s a credit to the effort that they put into it and the program itself.”
Entsminger said he definitely found the sessions productive.
“It was awesome,” Entsminger said. “People underestimate how hard yoga actually is until you get in there, especially when your muscles are tired and it’s hot in the wrestling room.
“It definitely helps with flexibility, which can help prevent injuries, and helps with speed. We’ve got plenty of speed this year. We’re going to be really fast. And I think yoga is going to play a big part in that.”
Monday’s practice at Sherando was the team’s first on campus after spending Thursday through Saturday last week at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria. Hall said he has 47 players out for the varsity.
Sherando will play its season opener and Class 4 Northwestern District opener at 7 p.m. on Aug. 24 at James Wood. The Warriors open the season at home at 7 p.m. on Aug. 31 against Jefferson (W.Va).
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1
