91制片厂

When the announcement was made that 91制片厂 would be able to play a spring football season 鈥� softening the blow of the COVID-19 related postponement of the fall schedule 鈥� sophomore quarterback Max Brosmer鈥檚 second thought was how excited he was that the Wildcats would be able to take the field after all this year.

Even that excitement wasn鈥檛 enough to extinguish the Georgia native鈥檚 initial response, though.

鈥淢y first reaction was thinking about how cold it鈥檚 going to be,鈥� Brosmer says of the early March start. 鈥淚鈥檒l definitely be playing in the coldest game I鈥檝e ever played in my life. But once I got through that part, I was really excited that we had an opportunity to play. I think we鈥檙e going to show everybody what 91制片厂 football is about right now.鈥�

鈥淭he minute the spring season was announced our kids were dialed in and our administration did an unbelievable job getting us ready to practice by setting up a bunch of safety protocols."

That opportunity seemed like something of a long shot after all fall sports were postponed as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic that turned college experiences around the country upside down. Almost immediately following the postponement there was talk of moving the season to spring, but it wasn鈥檛 official until the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) unveiled its spring schedule Oct. 27.

91制片厂 will begin its season at home vs. Albany on March 6. Concerns about bundling up aside, it鈥檚 certainly more than welcome news for the Wildcats.

鈥淚 feel like the whole team is excited. We鈥檙e looking forward to getting back at it for real,鈥� senior defensive end Brian Carter says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e locked in and ready.鈥�

The CAA made some significant changes in response to the pandemic to make a spring season possible. The league broke into two divisions 鈥� north and south 鈥� to limit travel for road games and eliminate the need for flights. was reduced to six games, leaving 91制片厂 with three contests at home and three on the road, only one of which will require travel outside of New England (to Pennsylvania to face Villanova on March 27, a six-plus hour bus ride away).听

鈥淚 thought the NCAA and the CAA really invested some good thought into how to have a season in the spring,鈥� 91制片厂 coach Sean McDonnell says. 鈥淎nd more importantly our league did a great job in figuring out how to schedule the games and take care of travel to create the safest way to play football in the spring.鈥�

Though preseason preparation looked different this year, the makeup of a normal football calendar lent itself to less chaotic shuffling than might have been expected. In a typical year, 91制片厂 plays a full schedule in the fall and uses 鈥渟pring ball鈥� to train and begin looking ahead to its future slate of opponents. This year, they simply flipped the two.

鈥淭here are always a lot of moving parts, but there were twice as many this semester."

鈥淒uring the first few weeks of school where we didn鈥檛 have a game or have to travel anywhere, it felt kind of weird. But we got used to the new schedule,鈥� says junior offensive lineman Patrick Flynn. 鈥淚 think everyone is just excited to get back to playing football against another team. It gives us something to work for.鈥�

Limits on the number of people allowed in indoor spaces forced the team to lift weights in groups of nine. On the field, all players were required to wear masks anytime they weren鈥檛 wearing a helmet, and the helmets themselves were fitted with plastic shields that covered the entire face. Everyone was expected to stand a socially distanced six feet apart during team drills.

Like all 91制片厂 students, players were tested for COVID-19 twice a week and weren鈥檛 permitted access to the field house without a negative test. So while the activities the players were completing weren鈥檛 necessarily different, the need for more disciplined time management was.

鈥淭here were probably 20 small windows throughout the day where we had to do something when there are usually five big windows,鈥� says junior defensive tackle Niko Kvietkus. 鈥淭here are always a lot of moving parts, but there were twice as many this semester. But I thought we did a phenomenal job of controlling what was in our control.鈥�

To that end, with nearly 100 players taking part in team activities throughout the fall semester, there was only one recorded positive COVID test.

鈥淭he minute the spring season was announced our kids were dialed in and our administration did an unbelievable job getting us ready to practice by setting up a bunch of safety protocols,鈥� says McDonnell, who praised 91制片厂 for creating its own testing lab. 鈥淚 am just extremely proud of the guys. They all bought in.鈥�

鈥淐oach Mac did a great job of instilling in us to take it day-by-day. His big thing was 鈥楲et鈥檚 get to October,鈥欌�� Kvietkus says. 鈥淗e felt once we got to October doing all the right things, that would lay out the rest of the course for us.鈥�

The changes in protocol impacted post-practice activities, as well. Players were broken into four groups, with only one allowed inside the locker room at a time (the other groups rotated between core work, stretching and rolling stations)

鈥淓veryone was essentially a freshman, because with all the changes everyone was trying to get through it together,鈥� Flynn says. 鈥淚 feel like we鈥檙e as tight as we鈥檝e ever been as a team.鈥�

That brotherhood didn鈥檛 develop overnight. Some of the early sessions were heated, with tensions occasionally boiling over as players dealt not only with an altered practice routine but with an unusual return to school and the weight of a global pandemic. But working through that tension and spending so much time together has helped build camaraderie.

鈥淚 would say we鈥檙e more together as a team now than we鈥檝e been since I鈥檝e been here,鈥� Carter says.

Adds Brosmer: 鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of time together, and like any time you have a brother or a sibling, you have arguments and disagreements. But that brings you together as a team. It鈥檚 always a good thing to see each other鈥檚 differences and see each other鈥檚 similarities and all come together as a unified group. That鈥檚 definitely made us stronger.鈥�

The quest now is carrying that bond to the field. But the players look back at the way they鈥檝e adapted and are confident they can translate that experience into success.

"I鈥檓 expecting greatness from this group,鈥� Carter says.

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