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YONKERS, N.Y. ‒ Freshmen Ian Ricketts and Justin Powell joined junior Vaquan Tyree on the sidelines between kickoff drills Friday at the first day of football practice at Gorton High School.
"This is my first year of varsity football," Ricketts said. "I'm doing okay, learning all the plays and making sure I'm stretched and ready to go."
Fifth-year Wolves head coach Dan DeMatteo was upbeat but anxious about getting his players cleared to play and up to speed physically and mentally.
"We have a few players who need to be cleared for different reasons, but we should have 34 out there when we get it going," DeMatteo said. "The main thing is to have everyone healthy and into it. I think we can do some good things this year."
Last year's Wolves did some very good things, moving easily though the regular season with a 6-2 mark before falling in the Section 1 Class playoffs to perennial power Ossining.
"We know most of the plays, so being in shape and doing the stretching and drills is important," Tyree said. "We did some camps and now we have to be ready to play as a team."
Gorton will prepare over the next three weeks with day-long practices, then key for opening day with crosstown rival Saunders on Sept. 8
"We have a lot of work to do," DeMatteo said. "We'll be out here for a while."
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