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In 95-degree heat, the Rams lined up and ran 30 sprints of longer and longer distances during a grueling afternoon practice.
None of them seemed to mind.
The Allen Academy football team knows a thing or two about adversity. One year ago, the team switched to 6-man football. The switch can be relatively easy for some programs, but the Rams' came four days before the season started.
First-year head coach Eddie Luna had to cobble together a schedule and a playbook. Then, with no time to spare, he had to teach a team the fundamentals of a brand of football none of the players were familiar with.
The results were seldom kind to a group of kids fighting to keep the program alive. Allen Academy finished the season 1-10, losing by as many as 56 and getting shut out in the first game of the season.
Luna says 2008 already has a turnaround feel to it.
In his second season in charge, Luna's had time to put together a more favorable schedule. His players, meanwhile, have had time to learn the parts of the game they were missing last year while trying to survive a crash-course season.
"Last year, we were spending so much time on learning our 6-man offense that we didn't have time to learn how to tackle or who to block." Luna said. "I see a lot of difference already. We had two weeks of spring training in May, and they retained most of that. When we came back in August, we were running plays on the second day of practice."
Ironically, Allen Academy's three-scrimmage preseason last year went splendidly. Or so it seemed.
The Rams won all three scrimmages and were brimming with confidence in the new 6-man schemes. But Allen Academy opened against perennial state contender Apple Springs, which immediately brought the Rams back to Earth. Apple Springs shut out Allen Academy 47-0, and the Rams switch to 6-man became a confused jumble of starts and stops from then on.
"We got overconfident," Luna said. "Then after our first couple of losses, we started changing around our playbook, switching to different looks. That just confused our guys even more. This year, we made a list of teams that were our same size, and we went after them. We've got a workable schedule. The opportunity for us is there. We just have to take it."
Luna hopes to get solid play from his quarterback, returning starter Anthony Vento. The junior learned from his mistakes last season and put in a good offseason of work to prepare for 2008.
"Vento was a typical sophomore [last season]," Luna said. "It's a little quicker game [in 6-man]. Once you roll out, you have to be able to make the play. You can't sit there and take your time. He was hard-headed. He's grown up some over the summer. We've worked out this summer, and he's been throwing the ball around [with the receivers] on his own time."
Vento wasn't the only Ram trying to improve his game this offseason. That extra work coupled with better preparedness has Luna and the Rams hoping to show big improvement over last season.
"If we take care of our business here," Luna said, "the wins will take care of themselves."
