Midnight practice gives ACC an early start

Were they early birds catching the worm or night owls on the prowl?

Maybe both. It was another Late Night with Aurora Central Wednesday for the first day of high school football practice for 2013. Coach Brian Casey’s squad held a two-hour workout that started shortly after the stroke of midnight. It was followed by a team sleepover at the school.

“It’s not new. It’s something I did when I was a baseball player at Montini, something I thought was cool,” said Casey. “My seniors my first year here (2010) liked the idea and we’ve had fun doing it.”

And each year, his Chargers have improved, going 3-6, 4-5 and 6-4 in last year’s first playoff appearance since 1997.

“Most of ‘em were sleeping in the home economics room, side by side, military style on cheerleading mats,” continued Casey. “Some were in the upstairs gym on wrestling mats.”

Gathering again at 10 a.m. on the practice field for a 60-minute special teams workout, plenty of yawns were spotted.

“The numbers I heard (for sleep) was between four hours and some as few as, well, no one got fewer than I did and that was about 15 minutes,” said Casey. “(Senior RB/DB) Julian Rios told me he got 40 minutes. Seems realistic. That’s part of the bonding experience, letting them do their thing.

“For the most part, they’re pretty darn responsible kids and they can have their fun. We got some work done this morning.”