Godby Mascot the Cougar
The Amos P. Godby High School varsity football team is currently preparing for summer workouts in preparation for the fall season.
Senior BJ Gant plays on defense (safety), offense (running back), as well as special teams (punt returner). Gant already knows what to expect on a day-to-day basis from summer workouts.
“We come here at eight in the morning, go to class, they[coaches] give us a study hour,” Gant said. “Then we go to workouts and we do running and weightlifting. They split us up, offense and defense, and we go to the track. Some days it’s for conditioning, a lot of days it’s really for speed.”
The Godby Cougars finished their 2014 season 12-3 after being routed in the 5A State Championship by Broward County’s American Heritage High School 38-0.
Linebackers coach Logan Carr wants the team in pristine condition in the offseason so they can be prepared for the upcoming schedule.
“That’s our goal, to play fifteen weeks.” Carr said. “So if we want to be able to make it, especially in a difficult district playing Rickards, Wakulla, and some great teams in the area, then we’re going to have to prepare our players in the summer. So they’re here all week. We lift everyday, we condition every single day.”
The Cougars have already brought four state championships back to Godby, including their most recent 2012 victory against Immokalee High School.
Gabriel Lovett is a former player and a member of the 2012 state championship team. He felt that summer workouts were the main reason his team flourished in the fall season. Seeing leaders work hard motivated others to be great as well.
Jesse Forbes Field
“Summer workouts, we already knew what was expected because the people that were over us told us how bad it was. We seen the people who had the most pride, the people that were the best, we seen them crying. So that’s why we grinded each day trying to get better and better.”
With 35 seniors gone, the Cougars are a much younger team. Coaches are now motivating players to step up and take on new roles.
Gant does not believe the loss of seniors will affect Godby in any negative way because of their history.
“It doesn’t really have too much of a big effect being that at Godby, young people know how to step in and take the role of leadership,” Gant said.
Godby’s first game of the season is a Battle of the Borders Classic against Georgia’s Tucker High School on Saturday Aug. 20 at 5:30 p.m.