Rain can't dampen spirits of new eras on first day of high school football practice

The rain came down in buckets on the varsity field at Ypsilanti Community High School on Monday. Scattered about the natural grass field were nearly 50 varsity players, clad in new black uniforms with white numbers and all black helmets.

The downpour was relentless, but there was no dampening the spirits of the team made up of the combination of Ypsilanti and Willow Run high schools as everyone was excited for a fresh start.

“You wouldn’t even notice that they hadn’t been together before,” said Rufus Pipkins, the longtime Willow Run coach who was hired to lead the combined team. “Ypsilanti is a small community and a lot of these relationships are kind of already formed.

“It actually wasn’t a hard transition with the kids to get to know each other. They just kind of like came in and just kind of started working together.”

Having a new head coach tell them what to do on the first day of practice is nothing new to the ex-Ypsilanti High School players. Pipkins is the third coach in as many years the players have been under and the fourth to lead the Ypsilanti program since David Poole resigned during the 2009 season.

What was new to both Ypsilanti and Willow Run players was the high turnout. There were nearly 50 players at varsity practice on Monday and Pipkins expects a JV roster of about 25. Two seasons ago, Ypsilanti’s roster size was in the teens by season’s end and Willow Run’s hasn’t been much higher.

“It’s exciting to see a lot of kids, and a lot of talent,” said senior Mike Cadwell, who will compete for the quarterback position.

Fellow senior Dauda Sylla didn't see any Willow Run or Ypslanti players on Monday. Only teammates.

“We’re combining two teams and there can’t be Willow Run and Ypsi, it has to be one team one mind, and we have to act like one machine,” Sylla said.

New Pioneer coach taking changes in stride

New Pioneer football coach Jari Brown spent part of Monday figuring out which players hadn’t filled out the necessary paperwork to begin practice. He needed to know which players, from freshman to seniors, had physicals on file and everything else necessary to begin practice.

It was a far cry from being an assistant coach - as he has been at Lincoln, Huron and Chelsea - for the past decade. Now that he’s in charge, everything - not just the offensive or defensive linemen - is on him.

“It’s still taking some getting used to. I have to remind myself sometimes still that I’m the head coach, that I’m in charge, so I’m still working through some of that,” Brown said on Monday, the first day football teams in the state of Michigan were permitted to hold practice.

Brown realizes being in charge of the entire team as oppose to just a specific unit will be different, but said he’s taking it all in stride.

“It’s exciting, a little nerve racking. I didn’t know how I’d feel coming out,” Brown said. “But once you get out to the field it’s like my domain.”

Thirty-six players came out for varsity practice on Monday. Brown expects the numbers to go up as does his new starting quarterback, Brandon Bertoia.

“We’ve been having a consistency problem but once the hype of football comes in I think everyone will buy in,” Bertoia said. “I’m not worried.”

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.