What started as a light sprinkle quickly became a steady rain. But even that couldn鈥檛 stop Tucson鈥檚 practice Wednesday.
The team鈥檚 midweek practice is the big focus day, coach Justin Argraves said. Everything is fast-paced 鈥 regardless of the weather report.
鈥淩ain is rain. It is what it is,鈥 Argraves said. 鈥淎fter last year, we鈥檙e used to dealing with some adversity. It鈥檚 not a big deal.鈥
Considering the Badgers (5-0) are playing Salpointe Catholic on Friday night in a matchup of undefeated teams, they can鈥檛 let up.
Salpointe is off to a 4-0 start, and shut out Tucson last year 27-0. Argraves knows the Lancers have a strong program; he calls longtime coach Dennis Bene 鈥渙ne of the best around.鈥 Stars Bijan Robinson and Lathan Ransom are earning offers from the nation鈥檚 top football programs.
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To stop Salpointe, the Badgers will have to cut off the Lancers鈥 running game.
鈥淥bviously, they鈥檝e got Bijan, who we鈥檝e got to stop, who鈥檚 just a tremendous athlete,鈥 Argraves said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e just got to come out, got to compete, play our kind of game and see what happens.鈥
Last year, the Badgers had to travel on a daily basis for practices and games while their home field was repaired from flood damage. The added stress, the team believes, hindered their performance, resulting in a 4-6 season.
But now, with a new field, the team seems to have new life.
鈥淚n the offseason, the kids had a pretty good determination of what changes they wanted to get down and, obviously, they鈥檝e shown these last five weeks,鈥 Argraves said. 鈥淥ur goal was to be 5-0 going into Week 6. Last week wasn鈥檛 the prettiest of games, but we found a way to get it done. The kids are just doing a tremendous job right now.鈥
The Badgers have met their goal, and are off to their best start in more than 15 years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like our team actually wants to work this time,鈥 junior running back Gary Love said. 鈥淟ast year, I felt like we were lazy and selfish. This year, we fight for each other.鈥
While Tucson has been successful so far this season, only one team Friday will extend their undefeated season. And although the Badgers are dealing with a few nicks and bruises, the team prepared as well as it could for Salpointe.
Even if that meant braving the rain during practice. And Tucson can recover with a bye next week, if needed.
鈥淚鈥檓 just really proud,鈥 senior Marcus Latimer said. 鈥淓veryone on the team has really dived into what we鈥檙e doing here, and we all want to have a successful season, so everyone just practices hard every day.鈥
