With the 2020 fall season being postponed for all sports in Howard County, Coach Browne and the Oakland Mills Scorpions Football team are looking forward to getting started this month. With Coach Browne entering into his 10th year as the head coach for the OM Football team, this season will definitely be different than in past years with a lot of rumors swirling around and many new protocols that will be in place. Will there be any other setbacks throughout the season besides Covid, and what can we expect from the Oakland Mills Scorpions Football team this year?

Coach Browne talked about what his first reaction was when he heard that there would be a season this year, “My honest first reaction was shocked.” He would later say how he had his doubts and didn’t see a season happening. “After the initial shock, I was ready to get the kids and everyone else ready for the season.” One major challenge for the team will be playing in a pandemic. Coach Browne spoke on how he feels about the county protocols for the season. “The protocols could be more uniformed, ” he believes. He also mentioned how every coach will get the same message regarding the protocols and how teams will have masks on all the time and try their best to keep some sort of social distancing. Also, Browne spoke about the possibility of Covid spreading amongst teams all across the county, “It’s not a matter of if it will happen but when.” He also mentions how the Scorpions will try their best to follow every protocol and wear their mask to help stop the spread. Another challenge for the season will be the weather because football, and every other fall sport, are usually played in the months around August to October or November. During those months the weather is pretty much the same besides the occasional rainstorm. In February-April, Maryland has the weirdest weather with it occasionally snowing here and there, so who knows what weather challenges we will have throughout the season. Another setback Coach Browne mentioned was no summer workouts or weight room. He goes on to say, “summer workouts really are a great way to help the team get in shape but also help build team chemistry around each other.” I  agree with him because the workouts do suck but having the teammates around and helping each other out really makes the workouts a lot more fun.

But besides the disadvantages and everything else that is happening around the season, Browne talked about some new things that we can expect this season, both offensively and defensively. He mentions how the offense will be more evenly based out. He mentions how the passing game will be there more often and how the tight ends will really get their shots in the offensive. Defensively, he says that it is going to be more like what we have seen this past year. But the biggest thing to look out for is the passing game which should be exciting to see. Finally, he spoke on the possibility of playoffs, Senior Night, and the Homecoming game. He mentioned how there will be no Homecoming games and most likely no Senior night, but that the playoff structure is still being planned out.

We are all wishing the best of luck and health to all of the players this fall and hoping for a great season.