Paris football players are living good these days. The weather has been very mild for the Eagles spring practices, and after missing the spring last season, it feels good to be back on the practice field preparing for an upcoming season. So under an overcast sky and mild temperatures, Paris continued the process of installing a new offense under coach Jeff Weaver. There are many questions to be answered, such as who will step up to replace the likes of graduate Jimmy Dikeman and others on the offensive and defensive lines. The next few months will be critical for Paris to develop linemen to provide protection for Chase Watts and holes for running back Duke Walker.
A few days ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Eagles practice and I took a few photos for the Eagles faithful to see as Paris continues to work hard at making the offensive transition.
On Monday, the threat of rain held off long enough for the Eagles to work outside, and work is just what they did. Coach Weaver runs a very efficient practice where there is very little wasted time. And on this day, there was a lot of teaching going on, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
The Eagles have impressive, experienced talent returning this year, and it was on full display Monday. Returning starters, such as Duke Walker and Chase Watts are very impressive at this point, and appear to be picking up the new offensive scheme well. Paris will be an exciting team on offense next fall, and Coach Weaver is preparing the team to be explosive, but to also be able to slow down and control the time of possession if necessary. Paris will be more balanced than some may think, making the Eagles a dangerous team.
Defensively, the Eagles will be led by senior Mequeil Ellingberg and Duke Walker who were a force on defense last season. The two seniors came up countlessly with big plays stopping opponents’ running games, as well as big plays in the secondary. Paris was an opportunistic defense in 2020, as evidenced by Duke Walker’s two returned fumbles for touchdowns in the week ten thriller with Booneville.
After Monday’s practice, I caught up with Coach Weaver to ask him for his assessment of how practice is going to this point. Weaver remarked, “Spring is going very well to this point. The kids are eager and are catching on quickly to the new terminology and way of doing things. We have over half of the base offense in at this point and if the weather continues to hold, we should get all of the base offense in by the end of spring practices.” The Eagles are experienced and have great attitudes that are all about winning, and no doubt, this is making it much easier to install a new system this late in the spring.
The Eagles’ work will not end next week with the conclusion of spring drills. Coach Weaver has extensive plans to keep the Eagles working in team camps and 7-on-7 tournaments throughout the summer that will keep Paris busy and give them additional reps to polish their new offense and for the defense to get work against other good offenses around the state. The pace is fast right now, but Weaver will have his Eagles ready when they travel to Lavaca for the season opener.
As a reminder to Eagles football fans, the Paris Quarterback Club, Eric Wells, Tim Johns, and myself will host a special show on Thursday at the Dari Delight in Paris from 6:00-8:00 p.m. The show will be broadcasted by Tim on the Sportsbrew.net. I encourage Paris football fans to come to the Dari Delight to watch the show live for interviews, special call-in guests, music, and fun at the Dari Delight.
Resident Press will be back at Eagles spring practice next week to capture photos from the Eagles scrimmages that will be held in the final days of spring practice. Additional photos of last Monday’s practice can be found on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports.
