Fort Valley State working through first week of practice

Fort Valley State is going through its first week of practice, putting on helmets and shoulder pads Thursday for the first time.

Still, the Wildcats will scrimmage for the first time at 6 p.m. on Saturday, the first day they will practice in full gear.

“Starting (Thursday’s) practice, the guys are very sore, but they’re fighting the pain and we are very proud of the way they have responded to the pressure we’ve put on them.” Fort Valley State head coach Donald Pittman said in a release. “We had a great day of practice (Thursday) being that it’s our first day in helmets and shoulder pads.”

The Wildcats worked on individual and unit drills, as well as 7-on-7.

“This is a hard game and we are working hard, running hard, and as we get into what we call ‘Delta time,’ it’s even harder,” Pittman said. “This is where we run hard at 4 o’clock in the heat of the day, and a few players start to drop off and leave the program knowing that this was not for them.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 11:03 PM with the headline "Fort Valley State working through first week of practice ."