New equipment lets Panther football rev up practice time

  • Pauls Valley assistant football coach Wakley Bergner (right) demonstrates Pauls Valley’s new JUGS machine during practice at Thompson Field Tuesday morning. The automated passing and kicking machine can deliver up to 600 passes or kicks an hour, allowing players to get in plenty of repetitions as they develop their skills. News Star photo by Chris Mackey
    Pauls Valley assistant football coach Wakley Bergner (right) demonstrates Pauls Valley’s new JUGS machine during practice at Thompson Field Tuesday morning. The automated passing and kicking machine can deliver up to 600 passes or kicks an hour, allowing players to get in plenty of repetitions as they develop their skills. News Star photo by Chris Mackey

    Pauls Valley’s football program is amping up its practice time this summer thanks to a new passing and kicking machine.

    The machine can throw passes from 5 yards to 80 yards, and can deliver up to 600 passes or kicks per hour, helping receivers hone their skills in a way that wasn’t possible previously.

    “It helps us get more reps,” assistant coach Wakley Bergner said. “Usually, we’d have to have a c…