Weakley County head football coaches look ahead after recent scrimmages
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By Jim Steele
MVP Sports Writer
Westview Chargers making progress
Westview High School Football Coach Jarod Neal
Westview High School Football Coach Jarod NealMartin-Westview head coach Jarrod Neal said his team looked pretty good at last Friday's scrimmage at Crockett County.
There is a feeling among the Chargers' camp that the team is making progress, following their 14-9 varsity victory over the Cavaliers.
"We looked better last week. We put things together on offense," he said. "We still made a lot of mistakes, but we're trending in the right direction."
Neal said the defense had another solid outing.
"Our defense played well again, but we gave up a couple of big plays," he said. "If we can limit those, we'll be in good shape."
Neal said he's encouraged by the efforts of his team.
"We're working and getting better, but we still have a long way to go," he said. "But, I think we can put something on the field that resembles football."
The Chargers are going to Jackson Christian this Friday night for a jamboree scrimmage. There will be an active clock, officials and many things that resemble a normal high school football game. Neal said the experience will be good for the team and he hopes the team continues to make progress.
"We want to come out of there with no injuries," he said. "We hope to get better and keep moving forward."
Dresden plays in three-way at West Carroll
Dresden High School Football Coach Keith HodgeThe inclement weather Friday caused a change of scrimmage plans for the Dresden Lions.
A Friday deluge washed out Dresden's scrimmage with Trinity Christian, so the Lions took part in a three-way at West Carroll with TCA.
"We ended up going with West Carroll and TCA," Hodge said. "It went pretty good, but we're pretty banged up right now. It's nothing major, but we're fighting through it."
The Lions will face Camden 7 p.m. Friday night at the Henry County jamboree, but may not be full strength.
"We won't be full-guns blazing in the jamboree, but we'll give it a go," he said.
Hodge liked the idea of playing two different teams in the scrimmage.
"It was a good scrimmage. We got two different looks from two different teams and we had to adjust," he said. "You always feel like you have a ton of work to do when you walk away from scrimmages. We're trying to build depth and, with these injuries, we know what we have and where we need to put people."
After Friday night's jamboree, the Lions will be focused on Westview
"Westview will be a tough game," said Hodge. “We hope we have most of our players back. We have a couple of seniors out, but we hope to have them back by the opener.
“We'll go to Henry County's jamboree and play Camden at 7 p.m. This will give us a chance to plug some guys in, get some work in, then move into Week 1 for the season.
Westview will be a tough game. We hope we'll have most of our players back. We have a couple of seniors out and we hope to have these guys back.”
Youthful Greenfield looks good in Fulton Co. scrimmage
Greenfield High School Football Coach Don Pitt
Greenfield High School Football Coach Don PittGreenfield High School coach Don Pitt, beginning his second stint as head coach of the Yellow Jackets, is off to a pretty good start.
His team scrimmaged Fulton County at UT Martin last Friday night and did pretty well.
"I thought it went pretty good, but we have a lot of work to do," Pitt said. "We had some good things going on offense."
The effort of quarterback Easton Sulivan drew praise from the coach.
"He's done a good job at quarterback and did a good job finding the open receiver," said Pitt.
Running backs Tyler Isbell and Trey Mebane also had good scrimmages.
"Isbell is one of our top rushers right now," Pitt said. "Mebane has gotten a lot of our carries. We have a one-two punch and it's going pretty well."
Pitt said fullback Landon Clark, who also plays middle linebacker, has demonstrated toughness.
The Jackets outscored the Pilots 5-1. Wide receiver Austin Griffin had touchdown catches in both of Greenfied's scrimmages.
"I feel like we've got a little steam going. but we're not very deep," Pitt said. " We're reliant on a big group of freshmen that will determine how well we do. We have a group that plays hard and with a lot of heart."
Pitt said his guys in the trenches showed improvement.
"I was real proud of our linemen," he said. "They're learning the plays real well."
Bruceton comes to Greenfield for a jamboree-type scrimmage this Friday night.
"We're looking to get game-ready. It's a dress rehearsal to iron out all the pre-game issues and get a good feel on how it's going to be Friday night," Pitt said. " The lights will be on and we'll see how it goes."
The Jackets will host Perry County for Week 1.
"I think it will be a good test for us," Pitt said.
