Brookside coach Scott O’Donnell talks with his team after Brookside’s Midnight Madness game on July 27. (Mark Perez Kriwany – The Morning Journal)
Brookside’s motto is “Win the Day,” and the team decided to start its day earlier than any other football team in the Morning Journal coverage area.
At 12 a.m. on July 27, the Cardinals and their community celebrated the start of the season with a late-night practice under the lights at Dick Sevitt Stadium.
“It’s about winning each and every day and if I were to compare that to life, that was the conversation I had with my guys (after practice): What are you going to do today to grow as a football player and as a person?,” Brookside High School coach Scott O’Donnell said.
The goal as a team has always been to come together better, and according to O’Donnell and team captain Tyler Kitzberger, that was accomplished.
“Today was a great team effort,” Kitzberger said. “I think we’ve bonded even more as a team. We have parents out watching and our young players are getting to see what it’s like to be on the field under the lights. That’s huge for our players, especially the young sophomores that are playing behind us.”
Brookside (3-7, 1-6 Lorain County League 2023) has become the latest team to join the growing Midnight Madness trend in Lorain County.
“(The players) were ecstatic to be able to do this,” O’Donnell said. “This is something different. They were like kids taking cookies out of the cookie jar. They were all excited to be out there and they were jamming (beforehand). This is kind of like a game night. They’re out here practicing under the lights.”
It was first started by Elyria Catholic’s Dave McFarland, whose former Columbia University coach Jason Ward said the team traces its origins to the Panthers football team, and was then followed by Wellington, Midview and, more recently, Brookside.
“We’re here,” Kitzberger said, “and I can tell you that Keystone, Black River, Columbia and any team (in our time zone) hasn’t even taken the field. … It’s great for us to be here and work together as a team and continue what we did against Norwalk (July 24).”
Kitzberger was skeptical of the energy at first, but once he got going, it picked up steam.
“I thought I’d be a little slow at first, but I got in there right away,” he said. “It was a game-like atmosphere. I got the feel of it and went right in (individual work), then team work and 7-on-7 work.”
The start of Brookside football’s 2024 season dates back to the early spring offseason.
“We have a leadership meeting in the offseason in February or March. It was at night, and he asked me how I felt about having a midnight practice right after we put on our practice pants for ‘Oops Day.’ I said ‘Yes,’ and everyone behind me thought the same,” Kitzberger said. “They came out here and saw the crowd of parents, siblings, friends and cheerleaders. I’m so grateful for them. It just makes the blood boil.”
Oops Day is when players are in full uniform but practice is not yet full contact. Teams welcome Oops Day to give teammates a little taste of the physical side of football, but coaches keep it in check so players don’t overdo it.
“We want to play physical,” O’Donnell said. “It’s something we want to improve on every day and it’s going to happen at times in practice. … We’re watching and monitoring their hitting. Sometimes we’ll be a little more on our side, sometimes a little less.”
