Photo by Jay W. Bennett Second-year Parkersburg South head football coach Nathan Tanner looks on during a drill at a recent conditioning workout at the Erickson All-Sports Facility.

PARKERSBURG — After taking the helm of the Parkersburg South football team last year, Nathan Tanner and his staff got to work pretty quickly.

Despite dealing with a COVID-19 pandemic, the Patriots are back at it as far as conditioning under the current guidelines.

A 9-1 regular season turned into a pair of playoff wins at the Erickson All-Sports Facility before the Patriots were eliminated in the Class AAA semifinals at Martinsburg.

“From March to August we were able to get a lot done,” Tanner admitted of 2019. “We got a lot done right after Christmas this year.

“I’m trying to stay as optimistic as possible about us having a season. We’ve just been following the guidelines to a T like we’re supposed to.”

Progression back to normal football activities might be on the horizon, but teams can only do so much.

“Before we could get with the kids last week we were having Zoom meetings and doing some chalk talk type of stuff,” Tanner expressed. “Just trying to reteach the stuff that the kids had already learned last year. Just trying to keep football fresh in their minds and some of the young guys who didn’t play last year can learn it.

“We can try to hit the ground running once we are allowed to start football stuff. We had coaches’ meetings through Zoom. I think we had several assistants who grew through that process.

Right now we are only allowed to have the kids for an hour. That’s been a little different. You try to get in as much as you can within an hour. It makes you be more efficient I guess you could say.”

Although coach Tanner knows the Patriots lost a lot of talent from a year ago, the high expectations remain.

After making the postseason in 2018 under coach Mike Eddy and then last year with Tanner, it marked the first time PSHS reached the playoffs in consecutive years since Jon Bolen was at the helm in 2008-09.

“Before the pandemic hit I thought things were going really well,” said the coach. “I think they would’ve gotten even better after winter sports were over and we got some more kids in the weight room. It is what it is. We’re just trying to make up as much ground as we can right now.”

The upcoming three-week period in July also will be different this summer.

“You’re not allowed to engage with any activity with any other teams. It will just be us together,” Tanner added.

Despite things being vastly different from a year ago, Tanner has liked what he’s seen from his players during conditioning.

“I thought it was really good. The kids just being excited,” Tanner said. “I’ve seen a lot of enthusiasm. I said this last year, but our kids work really hard and they do everything. They try to do everything to the fullest of their ability when they are instructed to do stuff and nothing has really changed in that regard.

“We do have some kids who are out of shape, but that’s expected. Besides that I think the kids enjoyed being back around each other, but it’s still kind of weird. Whatever pod you are in you are not allowed to go into another pod and they are seeing each other from a distance and that’s kind of weird. But, they enjoy being back and it gives them something to do.”

Parkersburg South will opens its season on Aug. 28 when Capital invades the EASF.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com