Sports
Summer of Hope: Campbell Hall's Football Team Gets Ready For Two-a-day Practice
The Vikings, coming off a 7-4 season, are looking to improve, and things get serious beginning on Monday.
They no longer like to call it Hell Week, but that’s the term that’s been used for decades to describe the beginning of summer two-a-day football practice in full pads, as teams get ready for the new season.
Campbell Hall has been on break for the past two weeks, and the Vikings return Monday for the beginning of what figures to be a challenging week, as the team begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 5 p.m. with some indoor chalk sessions thrown in.
“I don’t like to call it that. The school would be upset if I called it that,” Campbell Hall coach Russell Gordon said. “It’s double days, not like old school, just part of a learning tool. They’re in the classroom for some of the day, and they eat luch. I feed the whole team.”
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Campbell Hall finished 7-4 last season, including a fourth-place finish in the Alpha League. With three-year starting quarterback R.J. Gordon returning – he is the son of the head coach – the Vikings are hoping to improve by challenging favorites Paraclete, Sierra Canyon and Brentwood.
“I think we have lot of good returning players, which is nice,” coach Gordon said.
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Plus, impact transfer Christian Bradley has arrived from Montclair Prep, which shut down its athletic program. He’s a 6-1, 210-pound senior receiver/linebacker who had a big season for the Mounties last year and is considered a top college prospect.
“Our depth is our only issue, but with the addition of Christian Bradley, that helps,” Gordon said. “Other than that, we have the ingredients to be a very good team.”
One thing is for sure: Campbell Hall won’t get pushed around, because the Vikings have a lot of size, especially among the receivers and defensive front seven.
Bradley is the shortest among a receiving corps that includes 6-foot-3 returnees Dustin Drai and Josh Ross.
“Our size is going to cause a lot of matchup problems,” Gordon said. “It’s going to be a dangerous group. Christian is without doubt a Division I college football player, and I think we’ve got a couple of other guys that are just as good. That’s why we’re excited. It’s not one guy. We’re going to spread it out on offense.”
PABST IN ON THE MAP
After a breakout sophomore season at Harvard-Westlake, Arden Pabst is enjoying a big summer. The catcher is trying out for USA National Team (16-under), and he has impressed in the trials in Cary, N.C.
On Thursday, he had two hits and an RBI to lead the Blue Team to an 8-0 win over the Red Team.
Pabst is among top underclassmen returning for Harvard-Westlake, which has never won a baseball title but is among the Southland’s rising programs under coach Matt LaCour. Some of the other top players who are coming back are pitcher Lucas Giolito and outfielder Jack Flaherty.
ALSO ...
In other Harvard-Westlake news, girls track standout Cami Chapus participated in the Nike Elite Camp in Portland, Ore., one of the 20 invitees from across the country.
In a 5k race, Chapus finished right behind Sara Baxter from Simi Valley.
