The Andalusia Bulldogs are ready to hit the field again, as 2009 fall practice will begin Monday.

Andalusia has been participating in summer workouts for the past two months, working out four days a week for approximately three hours a day, starting at 6 a.m.

Andalusia coach Brian Seymore said special teams will be at the top of the order first thing Monday morning at 6.

“We’re going to use Monday and Tuesday morning to work on our special teams — emphasizing on our kicking game,” Seymore said. “That’s a big part that gets overlooked sometimes. I think you win a lot of games with special teams.”

One of the reasons Seymore said Andalusia is going to work on its special teams is because the team has to replace its punter and kicker.

“We lost, to me, one of the better kickers in the state, Gillis Jones,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of youth replacing these guys.”

Seymore said the team’s morning practice will be from about 6 a.m. until 9 a.m. In the afternoons, starting at either 5 or 6 p.m., the Bulldogs will commence their two-a-day practices.

“We’ll come back in the afternoon and we’re going to continue to work on what we’ve been working on all summer,” he said. “Our main emphasis is on (our first opponent) Straughn. That’s going to be a big game. We’ve been working on our offense and defense all summer and we’re going to keep on doing what we’re doing.”

Seymore said once the players are allowed to wear pads at practice on Aug. 10, he will have a better idea of what he has to work with.

“You really can’t tell until you start to put those pads on,” he said. “On the offensive and defensive lines there are a lot of spots that are still open and a lot of questions to be answered.

“I can’t tell you until we get into pads how we’re going to look,” he said. “That’s our main emphasis is just to go out there and get better every day.”

After coming off a 2-8 season last year, Seymore said the players are hungry for the season to start on Aug. 28.

“Coming off a 2-8 year, I think they have a lot to prove,” Seymore said. “I think they have a lot of hunger and I’m looking forward to it.

“We have gotten a lot stronger in the weight room and even our younger kids have progressed and gotten stronger,” he said. “It’s just at this point we practice our plays, do our running, do our conditioning and do all the things in the summer they allow you to do.”