Originally Appeared on VYPE

HOUSTON – Spring football has become a "right of passage" over the years at North Shore High School as players go head-to-head to prove their worth of making that coveted varsity roster come the fall.

For the first time in his 25 years on campus, Jon Kay is preparing to not have that spring-time event, which for his program plays a vital role.

"[Spring football] is such a huge part of our evaluation process," Kay said. "I've been fooled before by kids in t-shirts and shorts that look awesome. Then when we put the pads on it's a completely different kid. I think you see that at every level."

Currently, the University Interscholastic League has cancelled all activities until May 4, which includes spring football practices, during that time, due to the Coronavirus Outbreak.

North Shore has historically not started until after the regional track meets. But as high school sports continue into this "unchartered territory" the thought of not having spring football at all is turning from a hypothetical into a reality.

"The thing I love about spring football is you're not game-planning, so there's no time wasted to teach specific schemes or anything for an opponent," Kay said. "Everything is fundamentals and the basic pillars of your program. I think you can still do that part early in Fall Camp, but I just don't know if we're going to be able push the kids to the limits we would in the spring."

Even though there is the loss of a maximum of 12 full-contact practices and a total of 18 practices, his team would be missing out on this spring, Kay is looking at it from a different perspective as well – a time to heal.

North Shore enters this spring as the back-to-back defending Class 6A Division I State Champions. In the past two years, the Mustangs have laced it up for 32 football games – 12 playoff bouts and two state title showdowns.

That's a lot of football for 15 to 18-year-old kids.

"I think this is a good opportunity for some of these kids to heal up and get their bodies fresh, especially at our place," Kay said. "I was thinking about Dematrius Davis and Shadrach Banks, who came up as freshmen. Those guys have played 46 games in their career in three years. That's a lot of football. A little bit of down time could be a good thing."

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