Whitehouse's Gunner Clark (63), Peyton Kennedy (1), Cooper Clemons (6) and Kendall Woods (4). (Sarah Miller/Staff)

WHITEHOUSE — Before going to Henderson to watch their Week 1 opponent scrimmage against Paris on Thursday night, the Whitehouse Wildcats were on the practice field for their final day of non-contact action.

“I think our summer program has really helped us out the last couple of years because the kids have really come out here with a lot of energy,” Whitehouse head coach Marcus Gold said. “They want to be here. But I also understand that we have to have consistency. It’s easy to have a lot of hype and emotion that first week. So it’s important for us as coaches and as players to come out here with that same energy throughout the first couple of weeks going into the opener at Henderson.”

There’s no question that the players will have energy on Friday as the Wildcats will be able to begin tackling and contact drills.

Linebacker/running back Peyton Kennedy and linebacker Nick McGrew are both ready to begin that stage of fall practices.

“The offseason is really going to show tomorrow,” Kennedy said. “I feel like this offseason has been amazing for us, and it’s really going to show tomorrow and this season.”

“We’re doing very good so far, but now we wall be able to go even further and be able to put all of it together to see where we’re at,” McGrew said.

Kennedy — a Houston Baptist University pledge — is back on the field after missing the majority of his junior season with an injury.

“I’m back, but it’s like I never left,” Kennedy said.

“The great thing about Peyton is he never misses a mental rep, so it’s like he’s played all four years, because he was on the sideline on those crutches rooting those guys on,” Gold said. “That guy never misses a beat. He’s an unbelievable kid. He was voted our No. 1 captain of our team two days ago, so we’re excited about him getting rolling again.”

McGrew joins the Wildcats after transferring from Tyler Lee.

“They were very accepting of me coming into the program,” McGrew said. “It was great being able to come in during the summer and building a tighter relationship with these guys.”

The quarterback battle for the Wildcats is between seniors Cooper Clemons and Kaden Casey.

“I’ve seen them improve a lot with their throwing and their thinking ability,” Gold said. “They’ve done a good job of being able to communicate more to our entire offense. It’s going to be fun to see those two kids go at it this next week heading into our scrimmage.”

Whitehouse will scrimmage against Joshua Aug. 23 at A.C. New Middle School in Mesquite.

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