Guy Barr sat on a plastic crate facing a makeshift wooden tabletop late Wednesday afternoon, intently concentrating on a neatly stacked pile of papers.
Dressed in gray shorts, a gray, black and yellow T-shirt and a bright yellow mesh cap with a pair of sunglasses affixed to the top, resting on the cap's bill, the coach sifted through piece by piece of the 8.5 x 11-inch black and white photocopied play sheets. Holding a black-tipped Sharpie marker in his right hand, he circled certain positions on some and scribbled notes on others.
"Double Wing Fake 23 Trap," he wrote near the top of one.
Meanwhile, his players were dressing out - one by one, each in the same outfit - in the back of Barr's vehicle parked on the nearby grass, in preparation of the quickly-approaching 5:30 p.m. practice time.
Black helmets. Plain white mesh tops with shoulder pads underneath. Black shorts and black knee pads. The cleats varied from player to player, although most of them were red and white Nikes.
"We're trying to keep the offensive attack diversified, but simple, to where, when we make an adjustment, the kids know the difference." Barr said in between pages, the sun beating down its rays from behind the northern tree line.
Simple yet diverse is how Barr has approached most of the tasks with Marshall Christian Academy's six-man football team thus far. That's because trying to cram an entire offseason of information into two weeks of spring drills can be taxing for any team.
Especially one that's never played a game before.
"Definitely learning the playbook, how to execute, it's a little bit of everything right now," said Stephen Cagle, a senior-to-be lineman for the Guardians. "We're learning how to pass, throw, block ... learning plays. A lot of us have never done this before."
Outside of a few years in Pop Warner, most of the 13 MCA players have never strapped on a pair of shoulder pads. They've never softened a new mouth piece in a teapot of boiling water, much less learned the nuances of bringing down a shifty ball carrier in the open field.
And even the ones with prior experience are having to make a few adjustments.
"It's six-man football, so all the rules and plays are completely different than normal football," said Zachary Lastra, a quarterback. "It's a lot more about speed than team strength."
The group is willing and ready to learn, though.
They should be. They've been waiting for this moment for some time.
Lastra said he's been dreaming of playing for an organized football team since he was 10.
"It's very exciting," he said. "It's always been where you could only play football if you were in public school here, but now home schoolers and those in charter schools have a chance to play football in Marshall for the first time ever. It's an awesome opportunity."
Cagle added: "We've been working for a long time for this. To finally get what we asked for, it's a real blessing."
As a member of the Texas Christian Athletic League (TCAL), MCA will compete against other private schools across the state.
According to sixmanfootball.com, TCAL had 13 schools that competed in football last year.
The league also allows teams to pick up home schooled players and those at charter schools without athletic programs.
Barr said he has received interest from some home schoolers, but none have yet made the commitment to play.
"Our goal is to be competitive with every (team)," said Barr, whose team has worked out an agreement with Karnack ISD to hold its six home games at Indian Stadium. "I think we can compete in our district, for sure."
The Guardians do have four public school teams on their inaugural 10-game schedule for the fall, which is tentatively set to kick off Aug. 27 with a private school/public school doubleheader that will feature Karnack vs. Leverett's Chapel in the early game and MCA vs. Baytown Christian in the finale.
Barr said he is pleased with the number of kids that participated this spring, which ran for five practice days last week and another five this week (two are remaining). The Guardians will close spring drills with a team scrimmage Friday afternoon.
"Our goal is to get 15 (players) by August," Barr said.
Cagle, one of the team leaders, said although there will be a steep learning curve, the experience of learning together will only bring the team closer.
"It will build unity because we're all going through it at the same time," he said. "That's where our biggest success will be, in our unity."
For the Guardians' faithful, it is just as much of a team effort as well.
Four volunteers worked alongside Barr at Wednesday's practice, leading the team in stretching drills and peppering players with encouragement.
"Give it all you got, Stephen," a coach in a sleeveless gray shirt shouted during a particularly grueling bearcrawl drill.
"Good work, Artie. Get you a drink," another yelled following a three-point stance sprint.
Near the middle of the patch of grassy field, which is closed in by a thick row of trees on each side, a man sitting on top of a white Brushworks painting van was filming the practice with a small camera on a tripod.
That van is the team's pressbox. For now, at least.
At the far west end of the grounds, a group of dads worked diligently, sawing boards and hammering nails, constructing the team's new field house. The half-tin, half-wood structure was about halfway complete.
It should be ready in a few months.
By that time, so should the Guardians.
