A large, enthusiastic crowd of Forrest parents and fans attended to cheer on 90 high school and middle school football players as they took part in the 2013 Rocket Football Lift-a-Thon on Friday at the Lion's Club Fieldhouse in Chapel Hill.

The event was a major fund-raising effort for the Rocket football program, while it continued the commitment to a rigorous strength and conditioning program set in place by the Forrest gridiron staff.

Hard work shows

"The boys have been working very hard on their conditioning and it was evidenced by their performance," said first year head coach Brian Coleman about the event. "I believe the Lift-A-Thon went well, we had a great turnout by parents and the community. Almost all players beat their previous maxes, so that means that they are making gains in the weight room."

Most all the participants set personal bests in the categories of bench press, squats, and power cleans.

The top performer for the high school was upcoming senior Tyler McClendon, who registered personal bests with 290 pounds on the bench press, 415 pounds in squats, and 245 pounds in the power clean for a total combined weight of 955 pounds.

Coleman commented on McClendon's effort, "McClendon will be counted on greatly and he needs to be our senior leader. So far has done a great job of doing so. He is weighing 190 pounds and his three combined lifts were about 955 pounds, which is good. He has been working hard."

Heavy weights

Alan Williams stood out from the middle school players, registering 205 pounds on the bench press, 215 pounds on squats, and 135 pounds on the power clean for a total combined weight of 555 pounds.

Top honors in the squats went to Tyler Hart with 445 pounds, while Tyler McClendon had the top bench press at 290 pounds, and the top power clean at 245 pounds.

"I think things are progressing ok," said Coleman. "The players are definitely working hard in the weight room. Spring practice begins April 29, so we will be able to tell more then, but like I said, they are working hard."

Forrest finished the 2012 season with a 6-5 overall record, while ending up in third place in the District 9-standings, going 4-2 versus league opponents.

The Rockets made a quick exit from the Class 2A playoffs, losing at Mt. Pleasant 26-21 in the first round.

New season

Coleman's squad will open up the 2013-2014 season at home versus Collinwood on August 23 before travelling for a non-league game at Cascade with the Champions, who will move up to Class 3A for the upcoming season, leaving the Rockets, Eagleville, Huntland, Community, Fayetteville City, MTCS, and Moore County in District 9-A for the next three-year TSSAA classification period.

Asked about the upcoming season, Coleman said, "Let's just say it's a tough schedule with some very tough games to start out with."

Coleman has been busy putting his staff together that began with Brent Johns as offensive coordinator, while recently adding former head coach Kyle Stacey as the offensive line coach and newcomer Matt Kriesky, who comes over from Oakland, where he was part of the 2008 state title winning staff.

'Great staff'

"I believe we have assembled a great staff," said Coleman. "Kriesky was the defensive backs coach at Oakland and he will be the defensive coordinator. He is a great addition."

Coleman lured Stacey out of football retirement to mentor the offensive line and said about his former boss and good friend, "I am so excited about having Kyle and I believe this is an excellent staff."

Coleman added, "These guys have already been working extremely hard every day and on the weekends and the support has been great from everyone, which includes the administration here and the entire community."