Twelve midnight! 12:01 a.m. Monday to be exact. That’s when the Vance Co. Vipers football team will begin the first official practice of the 2022 season. According to Coach Aaron Elliott, the team is excited about the “midnight madness” practice. The team will gather around 9 p.m. Sunday to prepare and learn the rules and expectations from Elliott and his coaching staff. “I’ve always wanted to have a midnight practice. I’m super excited,” Elliott said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.
“We have a special group of kids. Very mature. They stick together and hold each other accountable,” Elliott said of the 2022 Vipers. Right now Elliott has between 45 and 50 kids. Twenty of those will be on the JV team with the remainder making up the varsity unit. The Vipers have not had a JV team for several years but this season Elliott has re-established the JV team and they will have a full schedule.
Coach Elliott, in his first season, has been building relationships with the Vipers. He has taken them bowling, eaten dinner and brought a water slide to the school. He hopes all of this will add up to the Vipers playing as a team. “Talent and good players don’t necessarily make a great team,” Elliott said, citing the Louisburg Warriors team where he was a coach a few seasons ago. Louisburg went deep in the playoffs that season because of team work not because he had the best talent. He’s hoping for the same thing to take place with the Vipers.
The Vipers, who made it to the playoffs last season, have a strong core to build around. Elliott feels the receiver corp, anchored around Israel Terry, is particularly strong and Quarterback Nazir Garrett has also been impressive. Elliott adds the offense is ahead of his expectations.
On August 12th the Vipers will host the annual Jamboree with Cedar Ridge, Western Guilford and Roanoke Rapids participating and then on Friday night, August 19th, the season gets underway against Warren County – a team that Elliott says the Vipers will have to be ready for because the Eagles don’t quit.
You can catch the action all season long on Vance Co. Friday Night Football on WIZS beginning with the Vipers traveling to Warren County to take on the Eagles.
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