By Chad Conine

Tribune-Herald staff writer

For Midway quarterback Corey Holmes, a text message possibly changed his entire football season.

Holmes, a junior, and Midway senior Todd Glaesmann were set to compete for the Panthers’ starting quarterback job in preseason practice. In fact, because the two players were both members of the Midway baseball team, the Panthers rearranged their entire spring and summer plan — Midway chose to skip spring drills and started a week earlier in the summer.

Monday marked the first day for Texas football programs that did not hold spring practice to begin preseason workouts. For the first time since 4A and 5A programs were allowed to hold spring drills, that group included the Panthers.

But Monday didn’t mark the first day of the Holmes vs. Glaesmann QB battle.

Glaesmann informed the Midway coaches in late July that he would be focusing on baseball.

Holmes said the subject of Glaesmann leaving the football program to focus on baseball had come up, mostly as a joke, as the two played summer baseball together.

That was until Holmes got the fateful text message.

“He told me, ‘You’re the man,’ ” Holmes said. “I guarantee you I had tears going down my face.”

Glaesmann earned invitations this summer to play in two prestigious select baseball events. On Monday, he was in Long Beach, Calif., where he’s playing for the Texas Rangers’ team in the Area Code Games. From there, Glaesmann will travel to Chicago for the Under Armor All-American Classic on Aug. 17 at Wrigley Field.

However, Glaesmann said playing in those two events were only a minor factor in his decision to give up football. Having committed to play college baseball at Texas A&M, he said he wants to give himself the best chance to earn a starting spot right away.

And then there’s the possibility that he could be drafted next spring.

“When I first told my parents, both of them said, ‘You’re going to miss this,’” Glaesmann said. “On Friday nights, there are going to be times when I’m going to want to walk down and suit up. But I had to do what was best for me.”

Glaesmann said he told Holmes to take hold of the leadership position for the Panthers. Holmes said he’s ready to do just that, but first he’ll still have to win a quarterback battle.

As of Monday, Midway coach Kent Bachtel said either Holmes or sophomore Beau Blackshear could start for Midway when it opens the season Aug. 29 at Alvarado.

“Both of them are outstanding quarterbacks,” Bachtel said. “Corey’s got a rifle for an arm. He isn’t quite the runner that Todd was. We won’t get that, but we’re not bad.”

The Panthers opted for a series of one- to two-hour bursts outside bracketed by meeting and weight-lifting sessions indoors on Monday.

Bachtel said he likes spring practice, but he was excited about the possibility of starting a week earlier than most of Midway’s 4A competition.

“We’re getting two-a-days for five days and we’ll get an extra scrimmage on top of that,” Bachtel said. “We get to do all of that before we start running into in-service and everything.

“But let me wait and weigh it out before I say if I like it.”

The Midway football program’s decision to defer to spring sports has already paid some dividends as the baseball team reached the regional final, the boys’ mile relay won the 4A championship and the school as a whole tied for third in the UIL’s Lone Star Cup 4A standings.

Small schools get going

While Midway adjusted to a slightly different routine for this preseason, it was business as usual for Central Texas’ 1A, 2A, 3A and private school programs.

For some, the first day of practice meant the first day of working toward high expectations.

La Vega and China Spring, which met in a thrilling playoff in December at Floyd Casey Stadium to decide the 3A Region III championship, were tabbed by Texas Football as the No. 4 and No. 6 programs in 3A, respectively, to start the season.

Furthermore, the football annual picked La Vega to win the 3A Division II state championship — a fact that Pirates coach Willie Williams accounted for immediately.

“We warned them about coming out and reading all the clippings,” Williams said. “You’re not going to win because you walk out there. We can’t live on what we did last year.”

But with eight offensive and seven defensive starters returning from a squad that finished 13-1, Williams admitted the experience gained in 2007 can’t hurt the Pirates.

“It helps us out tremendously,” Williams said. “The younger kids have those extra practices and games under their belts.”

China Spring, which reached the 3A Division II state final game before falling to Celina, returns six offensive and eight defensive starters.

The Cougars have to replace Super Centex Offensive Player of the Year Dustin Eskew, but receiving dynamo Mike Hicks is back for his senior campaign.

China Spring coach Mark Bell will likely have another son under center for the Cougars in Brian Bell.

“Brian stepped in for 7-on-7 and did a fantastic job all summer,” Mark Bell said.

Bell also pointed out that even though the Cougars officially have six starters back on offense, a couple of other players gained experience as starters before missing the end of the season with injuries.

“Our kids are excited,” Bell said. “They’ve got high expectations for themselves. They’ve got a taste of it in their mouth.”

While China Spring looks to insert a new QB in an experienced offense, the Reicher Cougars will face the opposite scenario this season.

Reicher returns standout quarterback Kenneth Cluley, but he’s one of just five returners on offense from a Cougars team that won the TAPPS Division III state title.

Reicher has even more holes to fill on defense but has playmaker back there, too, in linebacker Ross Rasner.

Chilton and Mart were picked No. 9 and No. 10, respectively, in the Texas Football preseason poll.

Those two will meet in the season-opener in Chilton on Aug. 29. Mart’s move from 2A to 1A in the recent realignment automatically makes them a favorite in the smaller classification according to many observers.

But Mart coach Rusty Nail said that’s not necessarily an accurate assessment.

“I’m not sure 1A Region III is not as tough as 2A,” Nail said. “People say, ‘You guys should win it all.’ And that’s not how it works at all.”

Nail said he’s focused on preparing a young team, which might include all underclassmen in the offensive backfield, to face Chilton in the season-opener.

cconine@wacotrib.com

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