While they’ll be celebrated for the state championship they won last season the Independence Patriots have already turned the page as the school year concludes.
And rightfully so.
They graduated almost every starter from the team that claimed the 2022 Class AA title with a 42-7 win over Herbert Hoover in Wheeling in December. But a veteran of the game, head coach John H. Lilly has scheduled a challenging summer slate to get his newest starters up to speed.
Coming off of spring ball workouts and conditioning, the Patriots will begin their June tour on the 16th and wrap up on the 26th with events on seven different days.
The 16th will see the Patriots attend their first team camp at Wake Forest with two more on the 21st at WVU and the 22nd and Virginia Tech. On the 20th they’ll participate in their lone 7-on-7 camp at Glenville State and will have co-practices on the 19th with reigning Class AAA champion Huntington, the 23rd with Midland Trail and the 26th with Buckhannon-Upshur.
Though all serve to strengthen his fresh batch of players in some capacity, Lilly has a fondness for the co-practices and the advantages they offer.
“I’ve been doing co-practices for 10 or 12 years,” Lilly said. “I think we get more out of co-practices than 7-on-7s or camps in regards to getting work done. If you get the right coaches to co-practice with you don’t have to worry about all the fighting that comes with 7-on-7s and you don’t get defenses playing 7-on-7 defenses or 7-on-7 offenses. Coaches generally run their stuff so we’re venturing more to co-practices than we have in the past. Last year we did two, this year we’re doing three.”
The June 19 practice with Huntington stands out amongst the three. The Highlanders have been contenders in Class AAA for nearly a decade and now sit in the same position as Independence, just in the state’s biggest classification. They’ll be replacing several key starters such as all-stater Gavin Lochow, but still serve as a litmus test for Lilly’s squad.
“We need somebody to kick our butts,” Lilly said. “We need somebody to really make us work hard. We have a lot of new faces and we feel like we’re really talented but we need to go against someone like that where if we make a lot of mistakes, and I’m sure we will because we’re young, that we can correct it on film before we get to the first game. Coach (Billy) Seals and myself have been really good friends for a long time, maybe 15 years now.”
For a younger squad, the co-practices provide Lilly everything he and his staff need. It gives them a look at a different team aside from their own and allows them to teach in real time.
“I like them because if you pick the right coach that shares the same philosophy that you do, you’re not going to see a bunch of 7-on-7 plays and defenses,” Lily said. “You’re going to go against his defense and he’s going to go against our defense. If somebody makes a mistake we can stop and correct it. We don’t have to worry about a 25 second clock. With 7-on-7s they turn into fights a lot anyways so you can’t get anything done if you’re fighting 15 out of the 25 minutes. I think we get way more out of co-practices.”
The camp portion should prove beneficial for the Patriots as well. With the mentality that iron sharpens iron, three camps at Power 5 schools will pit Indy against the best from all over the coast. It can be humbling but serves to teach and prepare for the season.
“I like going to those camps for one exposure for our kids and two our guys get to compete against the best,” Lilly said. “Last year everyone was praising our offensive line and how great they were and then we go to these team camps against players that are going to Texas and Alabama and Auburn and they get their butt whooped a little bit and it makes them a better player. The competition is what we want. When you’re in double-A it’s hard to go against your freshmen and sophomores and get better so we want to go against other guys’ kids and get better.”
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
