By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
PINEVILLE – Senior Erick Frazier scored two touchdowns, and the Pineville Rebels defense looked much improved in a 15-12 loss to Natchitoches Central in a scrimmage at D.C. “Bill” Bates Stadium last Friday evening.
The two teams exchanged three 10-play series with NCHS scoring the only touchdown before playing two 10-minute halves of live football.
Frazier’s first TD came off left tackle as he shook off one defender and raced 30 yards into the end zone to cut the Chiefs’ lead to 12-6 late in the first half. On the first drive of the second half he caught a pass from senior Jaylan Witty in the right flat, broke a tackle and followed a block from freshman Bryson Phoenix for a 53-yard score to tie the game at 12.
Natchitoches Central drove inside the Rebels’ 10-yard line twice late in the second half but came away with just three points as Mateo Restrepo’s 21-yard field goal with just over four minutes to play turned out to be the game-winner.
PROS: Frazier was the Rebels’ offensive standout, while senior lineman Sebastian Molette made several eye-popping plays on defense. The Rebels knocked down several passes and also made two goal-line stands where they kept the Chiefs out of the end zone after Natchitoches Central drove inside the 10-yard line. Pineville played hard from start to finish and didn’t seem to get discouraged when negative plays occurred.
CONS: The Rebel defense played with a noticeable increase in intensity under first-year defensive coordinator Justin Charles, but at times that led to untimely penalties. The Rebels gift-wrapped NCHS its first touchdown with a pass interference penalty followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, both of which extended drives when Pineville had made stops to get off the field.
QUOTE: “Obviously, I believe we’re better tonight than we were a year ago. I’m proud of that. There are some things that we can control that we need to correct, and we will. There’s things we just have to get better at.” – Pineville coach Bryant Bell
ASH-Acadiana
The Trojans got three rushing touchdowns from junior tailback J.T. Lindsey and two junior-varsity passing touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as they fell 55-35 in a combined score between situational series and one live period.
PROS: The Trojans got a lot of reps against one of the top programs in Louisiana, the three TDs by Lindsey and a couple of explosive plays in the passing game by Amyrion Mingo and E.J. Scott. The coaches also got a chance to continue evaluating their personnel, especially at the quarterback position.
CONS: While the Trojans hit some explosive plays, they weren’t very consistent. They also gave up some big plays and lost the live period 28-7. They didn’t get consistent play from either of their quarterbacks, and rotating them caused the Trojans to play at a slower pace than they desire.
QUOTE: “They’re good at all three levels on defense. It was good for us to play them. That’s what championship-caliber football is. That’s where we’ve got to be. … To know as bad as we were the other night, I’m not discouraged by the potential that we have.” – ASH coach Thomas Bachman
Tioga-Opelousas
Senior Josh Loyd took a screen pass to the end zone as the Indians scored once and gave up one score in a 48-play varsity scrimmage at Opelousas on Friday. The two teams traded three eight-play varsity possessions.
PROS: Down its starting running back, the Indians found two from the defensive side of the ball that they can rely on. Senior Corbin Zeto and sophomore Kenny Ponthier added offense to their linebacker duties and performed well against Opelousas. The Indians also played well defensively and really limited the Tigers’ star running back, junior D’Shaun Ford.
CONS: The Indians would have liked to have gotten more plays and found the end zone more often, but that was more a product of the scrimmage format. The biggest issue of the night was mechanical problems with one of their buses which caused a delay in the start of the scrimmage.
QUOTE: “I thought that we played hard on defense. I was pleased with how well we ran to the football. There was plenty of pad-popping. A lot of guys flew to the football.” – Tioga coach Kevin Cook
Peabody-East Beauregard
The Warhorses scored five touchdowns and gave up just one in a controlled scrimmage at Tioga where the two teams traded 10-play series beginning at their opponent’s 40-yard line.
PROS: The Warhorses displayed a high-powered passing attack led by junior quarterback Larry Roberts, who tossed two 40-yard touchdowns and also scrambled for a 12-yard score. Junior TJ Hullaby, the team’s leading receiver last year, caught a 40-yard TD pass as did senior Malachi Goodley. Peabody displayed a three-headed rushing attack led by Dartavin Depass, who scored touchdowns of 8 and 2 yards.
CONS: While the Warhorse defense looked solid overall, Peabody still must develop depth on that side of the ball. During the Trojans’ second possession, they moved down the field with relative ease for their only score as the Warhorses shuffled in some backups to give them a shot in varsity action.
QUOTE: “We’ve still got a lot to improve on, but I just like that the guys came out and competed. They hustled, gave great effort and great sportsmanship.” – Peabody coach Harry Coleman
Bolton-Avoyelles
Senior quarterback Connor McLain broke free for a 40-yard run from scrimmage on the Bears’ first play, but that was the biggest highlight of the night as Avoyelles kept Bolton out of the end zone all night in a situational scrimmage.
PROS: The Bears entered last week with less than 20 players on the roster and nearly doubled in size, so the new players were able to get some quality reps and show that they will be able to contribute to the team. Although the result wasn’t favorable, the Bears showed a lot of effort as they battled for playing time.
CONS: As is the case with most players trying to learn a new system, there were a lot of mistakes – missed blocking assignments, wrong routes being run, missed coverages and tackles on defense. The new Bears are trying to learn the system as quickly as possible, but they need as many reps as possible to do so.
QUOTE: “For a lot of our kids their first practice was Thursday, so they just didn’t know what to do. When I watched the film, it was just people not knowing what to do on most of the problems that we had. If we can just clean that up, I think we’ll be looking pretty good.” – Bolton coach Clint Dean
Buckeye-LaSalle
The Panthers were able to get in nearly 75 plays of varsity action, outscoring LaSalle three touchdowns to two in a scrimmage that was entirely situational in the open field and red zone. Buckeye scored twice in the open field and once in the red zone, while both of the Tigers’ TDs came during the red-zone portion of the scrimmage.
PROS: Junior quarterback Adam Brodnax completed 9 of 12 passes for an estimated 180 yards, including two deep balls to fellow junior Haidyn Boone, and perhaps more importantly took his first hits in live action. The Panthers don’t have one single defensive standout they rely on and instead have a deep pool of defenders as they played 17 or 18 players with the varsity and flew to the football.
CONS: The Panthers have two main issues that could be classified as their “kryptonite” that they must clean up. The first is pre-snap penalties on offense that slow down their tempo and put them behind the chains. The second is being able to tackle in space on defense so they don’t give up big chunk plays.
QUOTE: “We’re going to play faster than I’ve ever played in my coaching career. That’s my goal. We’re gonna play faster than even I did at (Louisiana College, where he was a quarterback and later offensive coordinator). … I think the kids are gonna enjoy it.” – Buckeye coach Ben McLaughlin
Menard-Jena
The Eagles ran out of time Friday night in an 8-7 loss to Jena as they were driving to try to set up a game-winning field goal. Senior Cooper Scott scored the Eagles’ only touchdown to put them ahead 7-0, but Jena answered with a long drive for a score and 2-point conversion with less than a minute to play. Menard drove just past midfield before the clock expired about 15 yards shy of being able to attempt a field goal.
PROS: Senior safety Maddox Shelton made a key interception to set up the Eagles’ touchdown, returning it roughly 60 yards to the Jena 5-yard line. Two plays later, the 6-2, 220-pound Scott dove into the end zone. Save for the lone Jena touchdown drive, the Eagles’ defense looked particularly strong as they didn’t allow Jena to score during the situational portion of the scrimmage.
CONS: The Eagles have to play crisper and sharper moving forward. They had some bad shotgun snaps as they switch to a new offense as well as unnecessary penalties. Several of the team’s younger players also made too many mistakes and missed too many assignments.
QUOTE: “Our defense is really senior-laden so that’s going to be the strength of our team.” – Menard coach David Perkins
Northwood-Montgomery
The Gators and Tigers battled to a scoreless tie during a one-period live session, and the Gators gave up just one score during the series portion of the scrimmage.
PROS: The young Gators competed on both sides of the ball, even if they didn’t find much consistent success offensively as they switch from a double-wing to a shotgun spread offense. Sophomore quarterback/linebacker A.J. Butler and senior running back/slot receiver/defensive lineman Khalil Page will play vital roles on the Gators’ offense and defense, while senior offensive and defensive lineman Jacob Skaggs will be crucial along with the emergence of freshman Javen Batts on the defensive line.
CONS: Once the live period began, the Gators had settled into a better rhythm, but they got off to a rocky start. They made the typical mistakes of a young team that is switching offenses and has struggled to get consistent reps over the summer. The team’s passing game remains inconsistent and must improve.
QUOTE: “Once we got going, they competed. None of them quit. They got tired, but they gave it everything they had.” – Northwood coach Tommy Moore