The Malad Dragon football team has hit the gridiron, getting into their first official practice this season on Monday, August 11.  The Dragon team is excited about the upcoming season, hoping to have a competitive season as they play through their stacked schedule.

This MHS football team has had football on the brain for quite a while, planning, strategizing and putting in the reps since the spring to help this season be one of the best ever.  Head Coach Brady Price is interested in not only making his players faster, stronger but also giving them some ownership of the team, the decisions, and ultimately their success.

Coach Price shared, “One of the major changes we are making this season is involving the seniors more in leading and decision making within the team. Starting in March and April we had morning meetings with our seniors where we talked about leadership skills, things they saw within the program and what they wanted to see differently. We have already seen opportunities where these young men are stepping up and we look forward to more of that throughout the season.”

The summer offseason months provided several chances for the Dragon players to work on their game in multiple ways from defense and special teams, to lifting weights and conditioning.  They honed in on their plays, adding new and culling out some of the old.  The team participated in a 7 on 7 passing camp at West Side that resulted in scrimmages against Blackfoot, Green Canyon (Utah) and Mountain Crest (Utah). 

At the end of July, the Dragons held their annual summer team camp, spending three full days working through drills, breaking down skills, learning plays, chilling in the pool, and serving the community.  In addition to these camps, 14 MHS football players also attended various other college summer camps.  Watching his team play this summer, Coach Price was pleased to see the progress and commented, “The teams competed well and we were pleased with how well they did.We could see a lot of improvement from last year.”

Looking down the road this season, the Malad football team isn’t set to have an easy time.  The Dragons will start their season on the road to Lyman, Wyoming to take on a team that Coach Price says has always been a top team in their division in Wyoming.  That game will follow up with a home competition against Ririe, a top contender for this division this year.  

Once the team gets into their district schedule, things aren’t likely to get any easier.  Coach Price commented on the 3A district 4 teams saying, “I expect our district to once again be the toughest in 3A. Last year three of the final four teams playing at state were from our district. Aberdeen, Declo and West Side have been at the top for a long time and we feel we have a team good enough that we can compete and start to break into that group. It will be a tough test but we believe we can do it.”

The team might just be starting to lace up their cleats and stack on their pads, but their first game will be here before long.  It will be an exciting season to follow along, beginning August 29 in Lyman, Wyoming under the Friday night lights.