Ballard football coach proud of his team's resilience heading into season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- One way to beat the heat is to get at it very early. Ballard football did just that Tuesday morning. They practiced before school under the lights, from 6 to 7:30 a.m.

"It was a great practice I thought this morning," said Adrian Morton, who is heading into his eighth season as the team's head coach. "The kids woke up. We got everybody here that needed to be here and the energy was right."

"It's not what any athlete really wants," Maurice Stephens, a junior receiver and defensive back, said. "But, hey it's about just getting the work done, coming out here and getting ready for this Friday, for a big game. You got to do what you got to do to get ready."

"It's hard getting out here but we got to find a way to win," said fellow junior receiver Alpha Secka. "We want to win Friday especially against Male after what happened last year."

Yes, it's Male week and it's hard to bring up the Bulldogs without bringing up last year.

"I think about it every day," said Morton.

After beating Male in the regular season, Ballard lost a late lead and fell to the Bulldogs 24-20 in the state semi-finals.

"The Male game," said Secka. "You never want to remember it but it's always going to be there."

"You're either harping on it or you're growing," said Morton. "As a head coach and as a football team, we've grown past it. Valuable lesson learned. It was a heartbreaker but we've moved on from it."

Although it's just the second week of the season, Morton believes he has already learned a lot about his team, especially with what they've had to deal with in the last few weeks.

"With school being out and heat advisories, we just keep getting obstacles and hurdles in our way early and we just continue to overcome them," Morton said. "For our guys to get here this morning, a lot of guys spent the night over at a teammate's house or were able to find rides. I'm really proud of them and honored to be their head coach. They've just been resilient and I'm really proud of this football team."

The Bruins are 1-0 after a 41-34 win over Southwestern to open the season. Male will also come in at 1-0 after beating Butler 48-0 in its opener. Kickoff is currently set for 7:30 p.m. at Male.