In the first three episodes, I went behind the scenes throughout Day 1 (Friday 8/16), showing highlights of the first official team meeting and practice of the preseason.  Episode 4 moves on to Day 2 (Saturday 8/17), when players arrived early for a morning practice and photo day before getting the rest of the weekend off.  Check it out below:

The coaches were focused on improving on Day 1 in all aspects.  With the offense dominating the team focused on defense and special teams more on Day 2.

The special teams needs to find some new personnel as kicker/punter Rory Caffrey and returner Sam Crain both graduated this past May.  As they hinted at in practice the day before, they experimented with different kickers, returners, and other personnel.  Most of everyone on the team got the chance to show off their special teams skills.

The team did get to some 7 on 7s, but the focus in these was on defense.  Nick Alessi did have some pretty impressive catches though.  It was Head Coach Taylor Allen’s job to put together an offense that can beat the top defensive players.

The DB’s worked hard in their own drills and learned a lot from Coach Tyrone Notice leading up to the 7 on 7s.  I mic’d him up for a large portion of practice.

Coach Notice is one of the more vocal coaches on the team, and his job is to prepare the DB’s for in-game action.  The group does not have the same amount of experience as last year’s DB’s, so they still have a lot to learn.  However, they showed some promise and made a few good plays in 7 on 7s.

While the DB’s and linebackers took on Coach Allen’s offense, the linemen continued to work on blocking, blitzing, and more.  Unfortunately, Chris Ocnos, one d-linemen, went down during practice with a lower body injury.

The T-Hawks received their jerseys for the season that morning, and they took team photos after practice.  Due to photo day, the team wrapped up practice early.  But they finished with some intense conditioning.  The team will return to the practice field on Monday, August 19, and on August 20, they’ll be putting on uppers, which is a helmet as well as shoulder and chest pads.

Before team photos began, I spoke briefly with Head Coach Taylor Allen.

Stay tuned for coverage of Algonquin’s return to the practice field in Episode 5 of Gonk Knocks.

Gonk Knocks: Training Camp with the Algonquin Tomahawks

Season 2

• S2 E1 — We All We Got, We All We Need
• S2 E2 — Our Season Starts Today
• S2 E3 — Offense Leads the Way, Defense wins Games
• S2 E4 — One Percent Better Every Day

Upcoming Key Dates for the Tomahawks Football Team

• Friday, 8/30 @ 6 p.m.: Scrimmage #2 at Home vs. Franklin
• Friday, 9/13 @ 7 p.m.: Regular Season Game #1 @Doherty
• Friday, 9/20 @ 7 p.m.: Regular Season Game #2 at Home vs. Shepherd Hill