By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SCIO, Ore.– The 2024 season was a season of growth for the Scio Football team.
A predominantly freshman and sophomore heavy team, first year Head Coach in Ty Hargis, the Loggers took their bumps-and-bruises in their 1-8 season.
But they’re hoping that it’ll serve them for the better.
A full offseason of work, Hargis came over from Gaston midway through June last year, so to have the full calendar slate was a plus, he said. The weight room, team camp, all the normal summer stuff to hopefully build and bridge into this Fall for the Scio squad.
“I think what it caused us to do was to persevere and think about ways we can all be better, including myself. It was huge to get to the places that you want to go. You gotta have those tough times and things you have to be better at, and that was last year,” Hargis said. “We got better, and I know that the record didn’t show it, but from the beginning of the year to the end of the year we took a lot of steps and it transformed us into who we are today.”
35 kids were out for the first day of practice on Monday afternoon. It was just the first day in preparation for the long season ahead. Hargis is looking towards Arley Lebard at Quarterback and Hunter Davis on the Line as their spark-plugs to lead the team with both being vocal leaders of the team.
“I think it was really important for me to grow as a Quarterback and as a leader to get that experience, especially being a young team. Just getting the reps, those live reps, it just helped out a ton,” said Lebard. “It just helped us a lot getting some experience being young and getting experience as the upperclassmen.”
“I think it was big for us to grow as leaders, and I think it helped us all together as a team. We all raised each other up so we can be the best that we can be today,” adds Davis.”We’ve put in a lot of work over the offseason. We started lifting weights all Summer, and we all bought in, and we brought each other up. I think it helps that we got a lot more people out and competing for those spots. That’s what is going to set us apart.”
Now it’s time for the real fun as they’ll prepare for the season. The Loggers will have the Black and Orange Scrimmage Friday at 7 pm before hosting their jamboree on August 29. Scio will kick off the season on September 5 against Yamhill-Carlton at home.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
