Linemen grind out weight room workouts

Amid the sound mix of blaring stereo and high school football players yelling encouragement to their teammates, a workout that has become a new culture for Southern Boone football was happening Thursday afternoon.

Lineman Brian Kent, a senior, said weight room workouts have become a regular part of the Eagles practice regimen.

Brian Kent is encouraged by teammate Tanner Smith during Thursday’s weight lifting session.

“We do core lifts, then heavier lifts and lighter weight lifts on different days,” Kent said. “That breaks up the workouts so we have different things to do on different days.”

Without his teammates working out with him, Kent admits that the weight lifting can be somewhat of “a grind.”

“I’ve gained a lot of weight and muscle, but just doing that four times a week is a grind – but it pays off in the end,” Kent said.

At 225-lbs., Kent is the smallest offensive lineman of the starting bunch, however, he has grown from 185 lbs. as a freshman.

“As a younger player I was put into a lot of games because we had guys hurt and I couldn’t do much,” Kent said, “but as a stronger player, I can not only get out there and push guys around, I can work on some different techniques with that strength.”

Kent said added strength in the Eagles linemen also leads to a more fit team in the fourth quarter – something that SoBoCo fans saw in a playoffs last year as the Eagles line dominated California in a playoff win and held their own late in the game in the close loss at Fulton.

Kent said he has high expectations for the SoBoCo line this year – and the team overall.

“We are anxious to get out there and show what we can do,” Kent said, “we have some big games in the middle of our schedule with California and Blair Oaks, but we can’t look past North Callaway and Wright City coming up – we don’t know what they will bring us.”

The Eagles will scrimmage Saturday morning from 10 am until noon and then host a jamboree with Father Tolton and Hallsville next Friday, Aug. 12.