Rockwall-Heath suffered its first loss last week, 35-31, to Mesquite Poteet, and Heath's coach and players say conditioning may have been a factor.
"In the fourth quarter, we were sucking wind," senior cornerback Desmon Randle said. "The first three games were kind of easy, so the first string didn't have to stay in."
Rockwall-Heath defeated its first three opponents–John Paul II, Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis and Mabank–by a combined score of 159-6, meaning that the Poteet game was the first time Heath's starters had played in a fourth quarter this season.
As a result, Randle said, the team has been running more sprints at practice. But Heath coach Tam Hollingshead said that doing extra conditioning may not be the answer.
"There's nothing like playing a full game." Hollingshead said. "We can have a lot of hard practices and be in great shape, but game conditioning is completely different."
Greg Tepper
