Marlboro County High School Football Coach Quin McCollum described the team as a work in progress.
Marlboro County High School Football team is doing summer workouts to help prepare for the upcoming season.
When the Marlboro County High School Football team members take the field for their first game against Cheraw on Aug. 25, they will be prepared with the help of summer workouts.
Coach Quin McCollum said the summer workouts started on Monday, June 5 at 6:45 a.m.
The team has transitioned to the second half of summer workouts at 6 p.m. to get athletes acclimated to the heat. It is Monday-Thursday.
“It gets them to start thinking about the steps we need to take before the season starts,” he said.
McCollum is still accepting players for the team.
“We are going to take it up to the first week of school and maybe even the second week of school,” he said.
The goal is to have 75-80 student-athletes.
During the summer workouts, the team is averaging 45 students a day.
“During the summer, we have asked each student to make 20 workouts,” McCollum said. “So far, everybody is on track to make all the workouts.”
For the Bulldogs, the return to school on July 31 benefits the team.
“It allows us to recruit more student-athletes, try to get them in shape, and get them ready to play,” he said.
McCollum described the team as a work in progress.
“It is always a work in progress,” he said. “There is always something to work on. There is always something to improve on. Those are the things that we need to do.”
The team has participated in several seven-on-sevens this summer. One was at Lower Richland and involved more than 30 teams.
The team participated in the Beast of the Sandhills 7-on-7 event at St. Andrews University with 14 teams.
The North Carolina teams were Fairmont, South View, Chambers, Douglas Byrd, Montgomery Central, Southern Lee, Lumberton, and West Columbus, and South Carolina had MCHS, Latta, Buford, Cheraw, and Ridgeland-Hardeeville.
McCollum felt 7-on-7s help ensure the team gets their timing down offensively, what they look for as far as throwing the ball, whom they can throw to, and what plays they could run.
“On defense, it helps us out with our coverages, our man-on-man stuff, and just the level of competition,” he said.
Second season
McCollum is excited to go into his second season as the head coach for the football program but knows it will be challenging.
The team had 20 seniors to graduate in June.
“They served in various capacities as far as the various roles they played on the team, but we have some young guys willing to step up and have been waiting for these opportunities,” he said.
This Friday, for the first time in a while, the program is having a free football camp from 6-8 p.m. at McAlpine Stadium.
“We wanted to do it under the lights and give the county’s young people something to experience,” he said.
The coaching staff and alumni of the program will help guide youth during the camp.
McCollum added it is a chance to have them experience what it is like to play Bulldog football.
He is looking forward to the first game of the season, which will be in Cheraw on Aug. 25.
“I’m real optimistic about it,” he said. “It’s a big rivalry for both teams. We’re looking forward to it just as they are.”
The Bulldogs practice on Monday-Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at McAlpine Stadium.
McCollum invited the public to come out and watch.