It’s certainly going to be a different kind of athletic season at Wayne Hills High, and for that matter, just about every high school in New Jersey, this fall.
And while Wayne Hills football coach Wayne Demikoff realizes the 2020 season won’t be like previous years, as far as games played and preparation, the goal is still the same.
With some new policies in place, the Patriots began its first week of practice on the week of July 20. Practices were limited to 90 minutes per day, Monday-Thursday.
No contact was allowed, footballs could not be caught, but Demikoff saw plenty of good things.
“It was great to be back on the field with the kids,” the coach said. “There are new things that we, as coaches have to work with, and that’s fine. We’re here to follow the rules, but we also want the kids to be able to start working out, and of course, to do so safely.”
When a player arrives for practice, he is to wear a face mask and get a temperature check. Once that’s completed, and the players walk down to the practice field, he can then remove the mask and participate in drills.
“We’ve been doing football drills, as well as conditioning,” said Demikoff.
A second round of practices was slated for the week of July 27. Following that, practices can continue into August, with new guidelines.
Players cannot wear pads until mid September. If all goes well, the season would consist of six regular season games, plus an additional two contests, after one scrimmage prior to the start of the season.
As usual, Demikoff’s focus, on the field, is about winning.
“Whatever we’re playing for, we’re playing to win,” said Demikoff. “That’s what we’re here for, and that’s the focus. We’re all hoping our kids will get that chance this fall.”
The team’s season opener was supposed to be in Mississippi, in late August, but that was canceled.
(Read more about the opener, here. https://mikelamberti.wordpress.com/2020/06/29/wayne-hills-football-trip-to-mississippi-for-the-season-opener-has-been-canceled/
Before the pandemic, the talk about Wayne Hills’ 2020 schedule was it would be one of the program’s toughest, ever. Included on the slate were games against defending bowl champions Wayne Valley, Ramapo and Ridgewood, state sectional champ, Northern Highlands as well as contests against tremendous teams in Old Tappan, Passaic Tech and Irvington.
Old Tappan and Passaic Tech played in sectional finals last year while Irvington advanced to the sectional semis in 2019 and are expected to be a power this fall.
Since the season has been cut down, Demikoff wasn’t sure how the schedule will look now.
The coach also noted that team captains will be selected, but haven’t been named, yet. Generally, the captains are selected during the annual summer camp, in early July, at East Stroudsburg University but this year’s camp was canceled.
Demikoff announced a new member of the coaching staff, as Mickey McDermott has come on board. John Jacob, the team’s highly successful offensive coordinator since 2013, as moved on to a new coaching assignment.
Mike Kelly, a former Hills player and long-time coach, will be the team’s defensive coordinator this fall while Bill Weigel has been promoted to offensive coordinator.
Weigel, a former head coach, joined the staff in 2018 and was a key member of the program, which won a tenth state title, as well as a first-ever Bowl game championship that year.
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