It didn’t take long before the midsummer heat affected the Coosa Eagles’ football practice.

Monday was the second day of official practice in shorts and helmets for local high schools and Coosa was forced to postpone the start of drills nearly an hour and a half when the wet-bulb temperature exceeded the limit for outside activity.

“That will force us to go to our early practices starting tomorrow,” Eagles head coach Chad Perry said. “So we’ll be going at 6 a.m. in the morning so we can get some pad work in.”

They won’t be able to go out in full pads until Wednesday. Then they’ll be a week and a day away from their scrimmage against Dalton at Harmon Field in Whitfield County.

“We’re running out of time all of a sudden,” Perry said.

But Monday was not a complete loss and the Coosa coaches were able to fill out their defensive schemes and highlight some things that were missing from their first day of practice on Friday.

“These guys are going to come out and get some work done whether we’re in full gear or shorts only,” Perry said. “As far as the guys and their mentality and their approach to the ’08 season, I believe it’s right where it should be.”

For this year, Perry’s fourth as Coosa’s head coach, the Eagles’ seniors are stepping up to be a solid force for the rest of the team to rally behind.

“My challenge to them as freshmen (when I got here) was if you stick together for four years, great things will happen to you when you’re seniors,” Perry said.

“They’ve lived up to that. There are 22 of them. They enjoy each other.”

Among the group of Coosa seniors who will be returning to the starting ranks this year are quarterback Shane Smith, who is out due to an inflamed appendix, running back Quentin Hight and fullback Lebron Neal.

“Those three guys got plenty of playing time last year and they definitely have their goals set,” Perry said.

Perry said Smith could be ready to go by their regular season opener against Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe on Aug. 29 but would definitely be back by their second game in week three at Cedartown.

Running back Fatir Pillow, who is coming off of an injury that kept him sidelined in the spring, is also part of the senior core as well as linemen Nick Mitchell, Benji Logan and Blake Lambert.

“Those seniors are grabbing hold of the reigns and they’re pretty much like a coaching staff right now,” Perry said. “They are telling these other players to either get on and go with us or do something else.”

Coosa is searching for something to send them over the hump after coming up just short of the state playoffs the last three seasons.

Since the spring, Perry has frequently referred to this class of seniors as a “special bunch” — players who have made up their minds early that this year will be different.

“They’ve got depth at the skill positions and have really come together,” Perry said. “They may be a pretty exciting team to watch this fall.”