Football begins, expectations high this season
Posted on 08/07/2018
Chieftains participate in football practice on Aug. 7, 2018(SPS) - If you heard the whistles, the horns, and the yelling coming from Collins Stadium this week, it’s for good reason.

Football practice began Monday. And like anything else, it takes a day or two to get in the groove of things.

“It’s been good. The attitude seems to be better than it was yesterday. They’re more focused. They’re more aware. So it’s going well,” said head coach Rob Borgstadt of his players on the second day of practice.

Borgstadt said with the players he has returning and with a little bit of success in the early part of the schedule, he doesn’t see why the win column can’t continue to climb.

“If we roll off the first three in a row then we might go win seven games. We’re looking forward to it and I know what we got coming back and I know what the other teams don’t have coming back, so I feel pretty good about where we’re at right now.”

Borgstadt pointed to the wins the junior varsity and freshman teams have put up the past couple of years as a reason for his optimism.

“The lower levels, we’ve competed and we’ve gone and beaten Sand Springs. We’ve beaten Muskogee. We’ve beaten Bartlesville,” said Borgstadt. “These are the same kids that are coming up.”

Guys like Eli Williams and Marcus Esparza will garner a lot of the attention on this year’s team, but another group of guys are expected to produce, too.

“We got offensive linemen that are going to step up this year that are coming back that are really going to make the difference in what we do.”

The past couple of years the Chieftains have focused on culture but, Borgstadt told his team Monday that that time has passed. The culture has been established and it’s now time to focus on executing every day.

“If you win Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, then your chance to win on Friday greatly improves,” he said.

Sapulpa opens the season Aug. 31 at home against Edison.

You can view the schedule on the Official Website of Sapulpa Athletics.