By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
GRANITE QUARRY — Danny Misenheimer is not wasting one second as a first-year head coach.
Monday is the first official day of high school football practice and at exactly midnight, he’ll trot his Mustangs onto the field for their first workout.
“The main thing is, we want to to start our season as soon as possible,” said Misenheimer, who takes over at his alma mater for Chad Tedder, who moved on to Central Davidson. “Monday at 12 a.m. is the first time you can practice so we’re taking advantage of every minute we get.”
Carson starts its first practice on Monday at 8 a.m. while West Rowan and North Rowan begin at 5. South Rowan and Salisbury start their 2012 seasons at 6.
But none will start as soon as East Rowan’s.
Misenheimer says he’ll oversee a typical practice routine.
“We’ll go over our usual stuff just like it was 5 o’clock in the afternoon,” he said. “We’re going to fly around. It’s the first practice. We’re going to turn the tempo up and get some kids excited.”
There’s something exciting about Midnight Madness.
“We’ll turn the lights on and turn the music on a little bit and try not to get a noise ordinance,” Misenheimer said.
The people who live nearby probably won’t notice because they might be in the stadium. There is a buzz around the community about the “new Mustangs” and Misenheimer hopes to have plenty of fans in the stands.
“Parents are more than welcome to come watch,” he said.
After the practice, the players will not go home.
“We’ll feed them, but we’re not going to release them,” Misenheimer said. “We’ll keep them until 6 a.m. We don’t want kids driving around at 2 or 3 in the morning. They’ll be here with us either playing PlayStation or watching TV.”
Misenheimer was asked if he thought any of them would get any sleep.
“They may sleep a little bit,” he said, “but I doubt it with 50 or 60 kids running around.”