Merrimack football ahead of schedule in first week of practice

MERRIMACK – The preseason is almost a week old and Merrimack High School football coach Joe Battista has noticed something is different.

He still has his voice.

“We don’t have any issues as far as I can tell,” the fifth-year coach said on Tuesday. “The attitude, the work ethic, how I want it done, the enthusiasm, it’s all there. The locker room and how to take care of that, the weight room and picking up after themselves, all the little stuff is in. I couldn’t be happier with that and the work ethic.”

After getting close to the Division II playoffs in 2010, Merrimack relied on nine seniors and a lot of young players in 2011. While the Tomahawks are still young, Battista feels the experience the team needed in order to be competitive is there.

“I would put the number over 30 underclassmen last year,” he said of players who saw varsity time. “All are back. We only had nine seniors, and one was the kicker who didn’t play otherwise.”

Merrimack spent Monday’s double sessions in a joint practice at Nashua South, something the teams have done the past few preseasons. Thanks to the ’Hawks’ experience, both teams were able to increase the intensity of the practices.

“It was a great day of work,” Battista said. “We did individual areas together and the players loved it, going against different players.”

The ’Hawks will have another chance to do so on Saturday, as they’ll participate in their first scrimmage of the season at Pinkerton at 10 a.m. The two teams will become conference rivals in 2013 when the NHIAA switches to a three-division format for football.

Despite having only been on the field for a week, Battista has liked what he’s seen from his players as far as running the offense and adjusting to the changes the coaching staff made in the offseason.

“We put in a different blocking scheme, so we’re running a true triple option,” he said. “There had been a learning curve, but the players picked it up quickly. We’re pretty pleased about where we are at this point.

“Usually we’d work one week against a 50 look (on defense) and the next week against a 40. From day one, we were running 40 and 50. Our look squad was jumping back and forth and we were expecting (the offense) to pick it up. We’re probably two weeks ahead of time.”

Merrimack will open the 2012 season with a crossover game at Con-Val on Aug. 31.