The 2018 football season got under way on Monday as the Hays High Indians worked through a rain soaked afternoon before being chased of the field by lightning late in practice.  First year head coach Tony Crough had 74 in pads for the first practice.  Crough begins his fourth year total as a head coach.

Coach Tony Crough

 

Crough says the goal in this first week is to figure out who will play where within the schemes he has brought to the program.  The position the players are at over the first few days of practice may not be where they continue to play as the preseason moves along.  Crough is also in charge of the offense.  Former Fort Hays State football player Layton Hickel is the defensive coordinator.  Overall the program features ten coaches to help the team.

Hays makes a return to 5A as the smallest school in the classification.  The regular season has eight games on the schedule with the ninth week scheduled through the first round of the playoffs which each team qualifies for.  The Indians’ first game is August 31st in Junction City.