HARMONY GROVE - Over the last handful of seasons, there may not be another 3A school who has played a tougher schedule than the Harmony Grove Hornets.
And the Hornets are ready to test their mettle against another challenging slate in 2022, with 13 starters returning on both sides of the ball.
Harmony Grove got their 2022 campaign started on Monday with their first official preseason practice, with 44 players reporting for duty.
Like most of the other area teams, however, the Hornets have conducted a number of practices and 7 one 7 passing camps through June and July.
Harmony Grove coach Ernie Horstkamp said the Hornets attended three team camps and three 7-on-7 competitions, serving as the host for 2 of each of the events.
The coach said the Hornets spent most of Monday "just getting back into the flow of things" and said they would continue to re-install their offensive and defensive schemes through the week, working up to full pad practices next Monday.
Teams are required to practice in t-shirts, shorts and helmets for the first two days of fall camp, before moving up to "shells" or half-pad practices for three days. After the first week of acclimation, mandated by the Arkansas Activities Association, teams are allowed to practice in full pads.
"We do so many things throughout the year now, especially during the summer with 7-on-7's and team camps, there is not as much rust as there was years and years ago," Horstkamp said of starting preseason camp. "It still feels different, once you get that official start on Aug. 1st ... and I guess the pace of install really picked up - offensively and defensively, and including special teams."
The coach said his goal every year is that by then end of the first week of practice, if the team had to play a game immediately on Friday, they would be able to do so.
"So we really push the pace this first week," Horstkamp said. "Then we can just kinda review and back off the pace from there."
The coach added the team would work out from 8 to 11 AM for the rest of this week, before switching to afternoon practices next week to work around teacher seminars.
Harmony Grove plans to have a Black & Gold scrimmage game on Aut. 12th with the junior high working out at 6 PM, and the senior high going around 7 PM.
They will then host Hope High School for a preseason scrimmage game at Bill Manning Field on Aug. 16th, before opening their season on Week Zero against Junction City on the road.
Horstkamp said the school was originally slated to scrimmage Genoa Central, but the Dragons dropped down to 8-man football just a few weeks ago. He was able to find Hope looking for a scrimmage partner on the AAA website.