CINCINNATI, Ohio — As the regular season of high school football starts to come to a close, many teams are fighting for the best seed as the playoffs get closer. That includes the undefeated Anderson Raptors as they get ready to take on another undefeated team in divisional rival Winton Woods. And part of Anderson’s success is thanks to their head coach who does things that some might say are a little unusual.
These aren’t your typical Friday night lights.
This is actually 6 a.m. on a week day. And it’s no secret most teenage boys aren’t morning people.
"It's hard to get up most days, but you have to," Senior Linebacker Tommy Huster said.
"I'm more of a night owl, but at this point, you know, I'm kind of used to it," Senior Wide Receiver Trace Jallick said. "I think everyone is.”
But the decision to practice at the crack of dawn is something head coach Evan Dreyer decided to do this season.
“It’s been great for us," Dreyer said. "Our players have bought in because we work out year round at 6 a.m. So I love it for the fact that there’s an end time. Everybody knows that they have to go get breakfast and head to school. And after school I get to be a dad a little bit more.”
And in the afternooons, the team does a quick walk-through before having the evening to themselves.
In Dreyer’s eighth season at Anderson, he’s made a name for himself.
“Our coaching style here has been ultra aggressive, fearlessly be ourselves and just have fun," Dreyer said.
And ultra aggressive he is. Dreyer doesn’t believe in punting the football.
“People can say it’s crazy," he said. "It’s okay. I’m okay with it.”
His players say it was a weird concept to learn at first.
“I definitely thought it was odd," Huster said. "Yeah, it's weird, but that's that's how it is. And it's going to put our team in situations that aren't always going to be perfect, but we're just going to have to face adversity.”
“I knew they were a high-caliber offense, but I didn't know that they are still high caliber on fourth downs," Jallick said.
But Dreyer is unapologeticly himself.
“Our philosophy on no punting has stemmed from way back when I started coaching," Dreyer said. "I didn’t really like coaching punt team. I think it was really, really hard and everybody wants to coach the punter too much. And then we looked into analytics and math and realized why don’t we play like a kids video game and go for it and have some fun with it?”
While Dreyer may have some quirks...
“He's just go, go, go, which I think is great," Jallick said. "It's kind of also representing our offense. You know, maybe one play doesn't work out right onto the next play trying to figure it out.”
His decisions on how to lead this football program have already led to success, and his players say they believe it will help them get to the next level.
“A lot of colleges are kind of being accustomed to working out in the morning too," Jallick said. "So I think if we're already doing it and you get to the next level and you're like, 'oh, this is nothing new.' So just kind of being ready for whatever's at the next level, be prepared for it.”
It’s a battle of the undefeated teams as Anderson takes on Winton Woods Friday night. Action for that game can be seen right here on Spectrum News 1 for viewers in southwest Ohio.