NATCHEZ — The Natchez High School football players have worked their way through a grueling summer, and the finish line is now in sight.

The Bulldogs will finish up their rigorous summer workout schedule Wednesday and start preparing for fall practice which begins Aug. 1, head coach Lance Reed said.

“This group has been a really hard working group,” Reed said. “It’s a consistent group that shows up day in and day out and puts in quality work.”

Reed said the players will test their 40-yard dash times and maximum weight in their core workout lifts, like bench press, squats and power clean, at the end of the week.

Reed said the team reached its basic goals for the summer workout program this year.

“We wanted to be in good condition and get stronger,” Reed said. “Me and the coordinators feel like we’ve accomplished those goals. We are also learning our schemes.”

Reed said his team worked out everyday, Monday to Thursday, from June 6 to this week. He said forcing his players to work through the tough conditioning program this summer will make them a better team this fall.

“They definitely acquire toughness,” Reed said. “We feel they have really responded to anything we’ve given them.

“When there are tough times in games they revert back to the work we put in a 6 a.m.”

Along with workouts and conditioning, the Bulldogs have participated in position and 7-on-7 camps this summer at home and at college campuses. Reed said his players have been to camps at LSU and Mississippi State this summer.

Reed said his team is doing well during 7-on-7 camps, and his new starting quarterback, Derrian Johnson, is progressing.

“(Johnson) is getting better everyday,” Reed said. “Seven-on-7 is helpful for us, but we have a lot to work on still.”

Reed said he would be working with a young team this fall.

“We lost 20 or so seniors, and the new guys are coming in and making their own name,” he said.

The Bulldogs will get to work preparing to start the season the first of August and will host this year’s jamboree Aug. 12, Reed said.

The team’s first game is scheduled for Aug. 19 at Wilkinson County, Reed said.