The Knights conducted the first day of their three-day mini-camp yesterday when a group of 30 players had their first opportunity to show the coaches what they’ve done in the off season to prepare for this fall.

Penley stated, “Minicamp is always fun, it’s such a great opportunity for us as coaches to see how much the returning players have changed in the last six or seven months and to see just who are the new guys.”

There are many things that Penley and the coaches look for over the three days.

“We get a better idea as to who is going out or who may have moved into the school and wants to play football,” Penley added. “We are also able to see maybe where they’ve gotten faster or stronger or have a better understanding of the game itself since they were last on the field.”

Eisenhower’s Gavin Lindemuth, left, and Caleb Jakubczack are timed in the shuttle run. Times Observer Photo by Steve Younger

The Eisenhower football team a year ago finished 11-1 and were undefeated two of the last three years in region play.

“We lost some amazing players from last year’s team,” Penley said. “But we have some outstanding talent coming back and return 12 of 22 starters from last year’s team and that is a great foundation to build from.”

Penley is excited about this year’s team and is anxious to see how they have improved since the end of last year season.

“We have a tremendous group of guys out this year,” Penley said about this group. “Many, I can tell have made tremendous strides over the winter to improve.”

The Knights will close camp on Thursday and the 18th annual blue-gold intersquad game will take place on Friday night at 6 p.m.

Eisenhower’s Kris Bunk works on his defensive stance during minicamp on Tuesday. Times Observer Photo by Steve Younger