The Rangers face the football blocking sled. New head coach Bart Jernigan and his fellow coaches took a ride on the sled so the players could work their hardest. (GAZETTE PHOTO / Theresa Davis)

The Kemmerer Rangers had a chance to tune up their skills on the gridiron during a football camp held in the evenings at the Kemmerer stadium from Monday, July 24, to Wednesday, July 26.

The camp was conducted by new head coach Bart Jernigan and his assistant coaches.

Jernigan took the field with enthusiasm, encouraging his players every step of the way. He definitely isn’t a coach to sit back and relax. Jernigan joined in on several of the drills with his players, ensuring that they understood what he expected of them. Jernigan is a fun coach to watch. He cracks jokes with his players, but also keeps them on their toes and doesn’t let them slack off.

The Rangers warmed up as a group, performed some team drills, and then broke up into offensive and defensive teams and got to work. The Rangers may not have the size (on either side of the ball) of some other football teams, but they’ve got a lot of heart. They put in a lot of sweat and hard work at this camp.

Every so often, Jernigan would yell, “We are,” to which the team would respond, “KR!” This slogan is one that Jernigan previously told the Gazette “we will use as long as I’m coaching here. We really think about what that means to be Kemmerer Rangers and to be a part of Kemmerer.”

The Rangers’ first official game of the season is on Friday, Sept. 1, when they host Saratoga in Kemmerer. Until then, let’s hope these boys continue to work hard to prepare for the fall.

After all, it’s never too early for some football.