It was the first official day of football practice across the state of Michigan, but it didn’t appear that way at Huron High School’s Riverbank Stadium.

The starting offense ran seamlessly through plays -- with or without a huddle -- with a simple look to the sideline and a play call from senior quarterback Alex Hassan.

Hassan credited the River Rats’ off-season work as the reason why the team was able to hit the ground running.

“As far as the skill guys go, we’re ready to go, we’ve been doing stuff all through the spring,” Hassan said.

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Hassan added that most players had a good understanding of the playbook because of the work they did during a team camp in the summer. With the off-season workload, Monday's practice could be dedicated less to teaching, and more to doing.

“It makes practice easier on the coaches because they don’t have to say things over and over again,” said senior running back Luke Benson.

Know your role

Father Gabriel Richard coach Brian Lemons made it clear to his team what he wanted to see out of them during warmups on the first day of practice.

And everyday thereafter, for that matter.

“If you’re a receiver I want you catching some balls,” Lemons said while addressing the team. “If you’re a QB, I want you throwing.”

That went for every other position as well: kickers needed to be kicking, running backs carrying the ball.

As for the big boys in the trenches?

“Linemen, if you want to throw a football, wait for gym class,” Lemons said.

Specialist of special teams

Ypsilanti High School coach Jason Malloy had the importance of special teams engrained into him during his playing days at Western Michigan. He seemed determined to pass that along to the Phoenix program on the first day of practice.

The punting game was at the top of his priority list.

“We need to work on punt every day,” Malloy told an assistant during practice. ““Every day punt team needs to be out there.”

Malloy was pleased with the play of his defense last year, but felt the punting game too often put his team at a disadvantage in terms of field position.

“It put our defense -- that was making plays -- in a bad spot time and time again, and you just can’t do that,” Malloy said. “When you have so many reps on defense, something (bad) is bound to happen.”

The Phoenix worked on punt nearly half an hour with Malloy leading the session rather than delegating it to an assistant.

“I just think punt can cause a momentum swing, ” Malloy said. “If we change the field position it helps us out tremendously.”

Hydration stations

The thermometer reached 81 degrees at its highest point on Monday -- a 26-day low, according to Weather Underground, Inc. -- proving once and for all that God is a football fan.

Despite the relatively cool weather, coaches preached the importance of hydration and made sure it was enforced. Malloy had his team weigh in after practice, and told them, “get plenty of water, make sure your weight is staying up.”

Huron High School coach Corey Gildersleeve will have his players weigh in four times a day during two-a-days -- before and after every session -- and had four water breaks in an hour-and-a-half long session and said players didn’t even need to ask if they needed more.

“If you need a drink, go get one. You’re not going to get in trouble,” Gildersleeve told the team.

-- Bob Gross and Matt Durr contributed to this article.

Contact Pete Cunningham at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.