Gridiron Greetings and Happy Bowl Week, everybody. In lieu of a traditional Duerrisms column this week, I will be blogging practice notes and tidbits in advance of DO or DIE BOWL VIII on Friday. Brought to you as always by our friends at GAMEMASTERS, of course.

In that spirit, look for daily updates here from practice as we prepare you for the ultimate test of Tri State Football Bragging Rights. The regions best players in the Land of Lincoln go head long with Missouri and Iowa's finest at Flinn Stadium in Quincy. Start time is 7:00pm. Gates open at 5:30 with the Quincy High Booster Club providing cookout delights for your culinary pleasure. Tickets are eight dollars in advance at the KHQA Studios; ten dollars at the door. As a student discount of sorts, we reduce the price to $7 for those who show up sporting a local high school football jersey. And as always, our DOD Bowl alums get in free of charge, provided they wear their jerseys. I can assure you, it is a fantastic time for all involved and well worth the trip to Quincy to be entertained by some really great football and some gracious hospitality. Hope to see you there. And if you can't make it over, remember to tune on the web or the radio to our partners at KRES, WCAZ and KHMO for full coverage from guys who do an outstanding job calling high school football games.

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DAY ONE CAMP DIARY: WEST SQUAD

I opted to go to Monroe City on Day One because the travel logistics are a bit trickier for kids on our West Squad and I wanted to be there to make sure we had a full squad. More honestly, I remain a nervous wreck over the course of this week and always have nightmares about position shortages, injuries, or no one at all showing up for practice...even eight years deep. Numbers were very good at West Squad with 39 total kids, one excused absence, and three players AWOL. Hopefully, those players will show up tomorrow or let us know of their intentions to not play. Either way, the West Squad will be absolutely fine...

Kudos to Tony DeGrave, our West Coach, who probably gave the best opening day speech I've heard to his players and who did a fantastic job balancing business with fun all day long. One of the fun things for me is watching our coaches realize, very quickly, that the level of teaching they have to do in this game is minimal. When you are dealing with nothing but elite players, you really don't have to coach "down" to a weakest link. And that once you tell a kid something in this game, you really never have to tell him again. Listening to the coaching staff marvel about their kids after practice is really telling. Methinks coaching nothing but All Star teams would add considerable years to every coach's life.

Speaking of Coaching Staffs, Monroe City's features all the usual favorites from Tony DeGrave's staff (which means an audience with the always entertaining Jamar White) as well as a pair of special additions for this week. Retiring Scotland County boss Brent Bondurant is coaching the Offensive Lineman for the West this week. And Monroe City Principal, former Paris Head Coach, and one time Panther All State Quarterback Ryan Watson is playing Offensive Coordinator this week; or as he calls it "scratching the itch." Ryan has always been an innovative play caller. Getting the chance to work Spread Option magic this week with Seth Williams and Scott Kroeger at Quarterback, I would imagine makes it even more fun. Ryan was all fired up and within two minutes of practice starting, he had the quarterbacks off in a corner, working on play calls and passing windows. Just an observation but West got a lot of passing game installed in a short amount of time.

As for the Quarterbacks, this might be the best 1-2 punch we've assembled. Observationally, Seth Williams (Clark County) looks like he had zero ring rust throwing the football. Where the Coe College pledge really wowed me was making things happen with his feet. He had a pair of rushing touchdowns and made a play on the move for a 30 yard gain to Clopton-Elsberry's Brennan Hurley that was top shelf for any QB anywhere. Kroeger took a little longer to knock off the cobwebs early but made a stellar 7 on 7 pass to Harley Stone that got him going. By the end of practice, Scott was locked in and confident, even dancing away from tacklers in the full contact scrimmage to finish. Probably the best line of practice (at least that I can repeat here) was one of the parents watching practice who turned to me and dead-panned "I don't think Quarterback is a concern this year..."

The Wide Receiver/Tight End pool here is really deep this year for those Quarterbacks to work with. Harley Stone and Connor Brown are big targets at Tight End who can really run. First chance I have had to really watch Brennan Hurley work and came away impressed with his hands. He seems unfailingly reliable. Matt Loter and Kevin Jennings are proven commodities; All State receivers who can win away any thrown ball. Josh Berry made a couple of really nice catches and can separate. And Jakeb Linear is getting a major boost in usage rate this week. He's probably the West Squad's most viable breakaway threat. Sadly, I don't think he will get much chance to show it in the Return Game, given Nathan Knuffman's strong foot. Bottom line: there is nothing less here than a number one receiver in that bunch. I don't envy the East Defensive Backs.

Just a hunch watching them work together for the first time, but I think Kevin Jennings will be catching a ton of passes from Seth Williams over the next four years at Coe College.

Monroe City's Shane Williams scored two touchdowns during the inside run drill and proved that the West is more than just a passing squad. Between Williams and Bowling Green's Tom Lathrop, Ryan Watson will have some options at running back. It looks like those may be the only two backs in the mix for the West.

Watching Offensive Line Drills, Josh Hockman (Centralia) and Hayden Baxter (Bowling Green) were every bit as good as advertised. The kid who really turned some heads was Wade Kemp. North Shelby had its struggles obviously this season but Kemp is a bulldog at guard and really played like he belonged with the area's elite. He delivered the week's first pancake and worked his tail off on every rep. Happy for the kid that he gets to end his football career on an up note. He also has the nicest ride of any All Stars, so bonus points for that.

Upon deeper reflection, I severely undervalued Kevin Crabtree this past season. Watching him today in one-on-one drills I had no idea he was this good. Tackle will be a long suit for the West, which is good because the East has nothing but monsters at Defensive End.

Mason Greenwell may be undersized but he plays with a lot of leverage and stood out as well.

Most impressive defensive kids on Day One? From my vantage point, I thought Palmyra's Brice Caldwell, who has pledged to Missouri S&T really shined at Defensive Line. The Monroe City Coaching staff was all raves as well for Illinois College-bound Defensive Tackle Jon Harder, who delivered some absolutely punishing hits and cleaned house on the interior Offensive Line. I'd say he and Wade Kemp were the two kids who arrived with the least fanfare to wow everyone. I am thinking that between Harder and Tyler Shoemaker, Garrett Campbell first foray into Missouri recruiting was a huge win. Have always been a Dalton McCarty fan and his work at linebacker was strong. And even amid elite company, Macon's Nic Hamilton absolutely looked like the best player on the field. He may be the smartest player in Tri State Football, for starters and he just always seems to be in the right spot to make good things happen. It's not so much an ability to make splash plays. Nic just every play, often without fanfare. Guy flat gets it done.

Don't be surprised if Will Mefford ends up playing some Defensive Line this week. Monroe City coaches love his toughness and his selflessness.

Best hit of the day was delivered by Jon Harder on Running Back Shane Williams. Though I love the fact Connor Brown took a swing pass and absolutely tried to level his Hannibal teammate Grant Taylor with a lowered should at one point.

Tony DeGrave ended the practice with an Offense vs Defense contest to see which squad's linemen could best field a punt. The West skipper picked three lineman from each side and gave them each a chance to demonstrate their "hands" Only Palmyra Brice Caldwell was able to cleanly field the punt, which meant the Offense had to do conditions drills, or in this case, drill.