Coyotes' Receivers Healthy And Happy To Be Back

After a 14-day layoff, no one at Calabasas High was more happy to be back in action at this past week's two-a-day workouts than Kyle Zion.

The senior quarterback had good reason to be pleased. His cast of receivers had been batted and bruised, with a number of injuries for a majority of the summer. But finally, the unit was both well-rested and healthy, and in the same huddle as Zion for the first time in a long time.  

"We've had some bumps and bruises, plenty along the way, plenty of dings, plenty of setbacks, but it looks like the rough part is over for us here,'' Coyotes coach Larry Edwards said. "I can honestly say that things didn't look very good at the start of the summer, but the hard part is behind us now.

"It's time to move forward and we're pleased with what we've seen from our passing attack lately. We know what we're capable of doing out there. We think we're going to be able to move the ball well through the air.''  

Having a healthy group of receivers is paramount for the Coyotes, with the first day of official practice on Monday. Beyond that, the season opener is on Sept. 10 at Granada Hills.  

Between now and then, Zion and wide outs Alex Varonos and Calab Madden, along with tight end Shane Bick, figure to be busy working on their timing.  

"It was tough at times, with all of our injuries, but that's part of football, we all know that,'' Zion said. "There wasn't much I could do about things, there wasn't much the coaching staff could do about things, there wasn't much anyone could do about things. All we could do was wait things out.  

"I can tell you this, it's nice having all of my weapons back now. I feel like we're all on the same page and we can do some damage.''  

Varonos, a senior, and Madden, a sophomore, were troubled by nagging injuries during parts of June and July. As a result, they weren't able to contribute as much as they would've liked during 7-on-7 passing tournaments.  

Bick didn't fare much better the past two months. The 6-foot-2 senior was sidelined for an extended period of time with a knee injury. Bick didn't end up making his first summer appearance until mid-August at the Agoura passing tournament. His return was long overdue.  

"I feel like I'm 100 percent, which is good because there were times when it didn't look good and I was getting frustrated,'' Bick said. "A lot of us guys we're frustrated. We had one injury after the other. It was crazy.  

"Now, it's just a matter of time before we all get things going and get our offense at top speed. We're close, really close. It's nice to see some progress. We've come too far to turn back and we're not going to stop working.''