“Blue 42 blue 42 hut hut.” The center snaps the ball, they run the play, and after the play ends the coach blows the whistle. Hundreds of athletes aline the end zone waiting for the coaches’ next instruction. Two Revere football players, Clayton Langdon and AJ Hughes await the coaches to call the next drill. Exhausted and sore, the two athletes watch as the next drill begins, following the group of boys in front of them as they push themselves to keep going.

Revere High School seniors, Hughes and Langdon attended two Nike Sparq football camps over the summer, which was a camp that tests athletes in different categories and uses the results to give them a “Nike plus rating.” Both athletes worked on various skills and drills to help improve them as athletes, while also working to be noticed by college scouts.

The football camps took place in Massillon and Columbus. The first camp in Massillon showed how athletes performed; and some were invited to the one in Columbus, depending on the results from the first one.

“The camp at Massillon only took about an hour but went all day and the campers could show up whenever to do their testing. The camp in Columbus lasted a lot longer since it was designed more towards drills and football competition,” Hughes said.

Hughes, a quarterback for the varsity football team, worked on different skills than Langdon who is the football team’s starting running back. Both worked on skills to help better themselves as an athlete. Hughes explained the drills he did at the camp.  

“The drills were for each specific position. For quarterbacks we worked on footwork drills and different passing drills along with one-on-one competition with receivers and defensive back at the end,” Hughes said.

Langdon explained how he needed to work on his technique to better himself.

“I worked on focusing on the little things, and really concentrating on what they are telling me,” Langdon said.

Langdon has participated in many camps and explained how this one compared to others.

“[Participants are tested in the] 40-yard dash, vertical jump, powerball toss, and 20-yard shuttle. They are also weighed and checked for their height. They then receive a score based on how well they do. Coaches are there to see how players perform. The second camp was similar as the first, but at the end we did lots of drills where we competed one on one against each other,” Langdon said.

The camp had many athletes from all over the country training and competing.

“[At] the camp at Massillon over one thousand athletes showed up throughout the day and the camp in Columbus had around three hundred,” Hughes said.

Hughes’ personal quarterback coach Jim Ballard, who’s been working with Hughes for two years now talked about what he thinks makes Hughes such a good athlete.

“He’s a really good athlete, he throws well, he can also hurt the defense with his legs, and he’s a great student of the game, so he learns what weaknesses the defense has with film study. He just works hard at his craft, from a physical standpoint working on mechanics and getting better throwing the ball and from a mental standpoint by watching film with me and breaking down defenses and understanding coverage,” Ballard said.

Langdon finished with a 108.84 overall and Hughes with a 105.54 overall, the total score resulted from the certain drills the boys completed. Both athletes received the results they wanted from the camps and show that every Friday night by working hard at every varsity football game.