After missing out on the post season a year ago, the Pike Patriots were hungry to step back out on the football field for spring practice this week.

“It’s great to just come back out and play,” said Patriots head coach Gene Allen. “We have a good little nucleus coming back. The kids have enjoyed it, and it’s been a great time so far.”

With practices running into next week, the Patriots have time to work on their football team heading into the summer months.

“We practice into next week and then it’s the end of school,” Allen said. “There is a lot of stuff going on. The attitudes have been great. We have a lot we still need to work on, but we’ll get there.”

Spring practice is about getting quality reps in before the summer. Quarterback Reed Jinright, who turned heads a season ago, will use the time build a connection with his offense.

“He needs to get all that he can,” Allen said. “Much of our offense is based on making the correct reads. He still has trouble making the correct read and taking the snaps from the center. Reed will work himself to death, so I don’t see it being a problem.”

The Patriots finished last year with a 4-6 record, and they struggled with injuries. This season with a smaller roster coming back, there is more importance being placed staying healthy.

“We had a lot of kids miss a lot of games last year,” Allen said. “It’s good for this year because we got experience. We have to stay injury free. We have to get stronger in the weight room. Our numbers are down so we are going to have many kids playing both ways.”

In the end, spring practice is about learning and growing and the coaching staff will take the time to learn what kind of roster they have.

“We need to see who we got,” Allen said. “We have some young guys that just need reps. The more they get the better we are going to be. We have a great group of kids and a good group coming back from last year.

During the first couple days, the energy level has been turned way up and the players are taking advantage of the opportunity to trash talk and give each other helpful advice.

“They’re always going to do that,” Allen said. “They have had a lot of fun. We have some kids that have never played before and their attitude has been really good. It’s been a lot of fun.”