Houston County hosts open practice ahead of spring game

WARNER ROBINS — The Houston County Bears finish spring practice this week, but before Friday’s spring game they hosted an open practice on Tuesday dubbed “Bear Hunt.”

There were several college coaches and fans in attendance to watch the beginnings of the next iteration of the Bears, as they took to Freedom Field at 6 p.m.

PHOTOS: See more photos from Tuesday’s open practice.

The practice started with warm-up drills before moving into more intensive offensive and defensive drills.

They did full contact 11-on-11 mock drives as well as more specialized work with each position group, often working together.

Receiver is a big position to watch for HoCo in the spring. They graduated eight players totaling for 189 receptions for 2600 yards of production that they’ll have to replace.

They look to be in good shape in the running back room as far as RB1 goes. Amir Thomas returns with 69 carries for 586 yards and seven touchdowns from last year, though who will be the workhorses behind him is still unclear.

The defense took some big hits with Darius Patterson, Xavier Ryan, Jayden Jackson and others graduating, but Jordan Smith looks promising as a rising junior who led the team in total tackles last year with 88 and was second in interceptions with three.

UP NEXT

HoCo will cap their spring with an inter-squad scrimmage on Freedom Field on Friday, May 17 at 6:30 p.m.