By JOHN VERSER
Glasgow Daily Times
August 23, 2008 01:40 pm
—
Three area teams took to the field for their final scrimmage on Friday night.
Barren County was at Russell County, Glasgow headed to Warren East and Monroe County played at Campbellsville. It was the second scrimmage for each team.
Caverna and Metcalfe County were set for scrimmages Saturday at the PAC Jamboree, hosted by Bardstown Bethlehem.
Barren County at Russell County
Barren County coach Jeff Richey was pleased for the most part with his team’s performance in Friday’s scrimmage at Russell County.
The Trojans and Lakers scored a pair of touchdowns each but an extra point gave the Lakers a 13-12 win.
“We weren’t as sharp as I would have liked to have been, but overall I was pleased with our effort,” Richey said.
Barren was on the verge of scoring on its opening drive before the Lakers forcer Kris Aquino to fumble inside the one yard line on a 40-yard run. Aquino injured his ankle on the play. The Lakers scored on their first possession and led 6-0 at the half.
Tyler Hughes intercepted a Russell pass on the first drive of the second half and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown to knot the score at 6-6.
The Trojans took the lead later in the second half. Tim Sneed broke off for a 30-yard run to put the ball at the Lakers’ one-yard line. Coty Lynn ran it in from there for a 12-6 lead.
Russell scored on its last possession of the game and hit the extra point for the 13-12 lead.
Barren got the ball back and took it to the 15-yard line before time expired.
The Trojans’ biggest weakness in the game was in the kicking game. All three Trojan kickers were at Friday’s soccer match against Barren at Pulaski County.
“We would’ve liked to have kicked a field goal there at the end of the game to try to win it, but we didn’t have any kickers with us,” Richey said. “We’ve got some good kickers that play soccer and they were over at Pulaski County tonight with the soccer team. You’d still like to win them, but it’s just a practice game.”
The four-way quarterback battle is still under way as Richey said all of his signal callers played well on Friday.
“Nobody lost the job and they all did their best to earn it,” he said.
Hughes, a sophomore, got the starting nod in the scrimmage. Sophomore Gil Thomas and junior Austin Birge also saw extensive time while Lynn, a senior, got what Richey called “a few plays designed for him.”
“Instead of this being a negative, it’s turned in to a positive,” Richey said. “We’ve got four guys that can step in and do the job for us.”
Richey also said that his team moved the ball well up and down the field.
“Overall, I’m pleased with tonight,” Richey said. “Now we have to go back and have five good days of practice to get ready for Metcalfe County on Saturday.”
Barren hosts Metcalfe in the season opener Saturday in the TJ Samson Bowl. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.
Glasgow at Warren East
Glasgow coach Billy Lindsey was pleased with his team’s turnaround in the second half.
The Scotties gave up a pair of early scores before rallying to tie Warren East at three scores each.
“Midway through the first quarter it looked pretty bleak, but we battled back and played them pretty even,” Lindsey said. “We could’ve rolled over early and we didn’t. I was pleased to see that.”
Glasgow played the scrimmage without two of its key components on offense. Offensive lineman Wes Gosnell broke his leg earlier in the week. Lindsey said Gosnell had surgery and should be back in about six weeks.
Running back Blake Perkins also sat out the scrimmage with shin splints.
“Considering we had two of our big guys out on both sides of the ball, I was pretty pleased that we were able to come back like we did,” Lindsey said. “We had a lot of guys step up and make plays.”
East took the early lead before Glasgow tied it up at 7-7. The Raiders scored on a long pass to take a 14-7 lead at the half.
The Scotties came back in the second half to knot the game at three scores a piece.
“We controlled the line of scrimmage better in the third quarter,” Lindsey said. “We kind of wore them down a little bit. I’d say the time of possession was in our favor, especially in the third quarter.”
The Scotties’ coach said the thing his team has to work on the most in the upcoming week is special teams play.
“We’ve got to do a lot more work on special teams,” Lindsey said. “We haven’t got to do a lot on special teams in the scrimmages. Nothing has really been live as far as special teams go.”
He would also like to see his offense become a little more consistent.
“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Lindsey said. “I’d like to see us maybe a little more consistent in our execution.”
The Scotties open the season Saturday against Allen County-Scottsville in the TJ Samson Bowl. Kickoff is 5 p.m. at Barren County.
“All in all, I was pretty pleased with the scrimmage and I was pleased how we battled back,” Lindsey said.
Monroe County at Campbellsville
John Petett left Campbellsville pleased on Friday night.
He’d like to leave Taylor County just as happy this coming Friday.
Petett’s Monroe County squad defeated Campbellsville two scores to one in the final tune up for both teams. The Falcons open the season Friday at Taylor County.
“It was a good scrimmage,” Petett said. “I think both teams got the work in that they needed to.”
Petett was pleased with his units across the board, but especially praised his team’s offensive line play.
“If our offensive line plays this good, week in and week out, we have the potential to put up some points,” Petett said. “They played very well.”
Monroe’s biggest disappointment so far has been at the running back position. Two Falcon running backs, seniors Sheldon Hamilton and Caleb Maxey, were out due to injury. Sophomore Tanner Kendall, one of three backs that Petett expects big things from this season, filled in the gap.
“Running back is one of the positions that we’re really deep at,” Petett said. “Tanner Kendall did a good job out there tonight. We’d love to have all three of them out there, but Tanner competed well for us.”
The Falcons open the season Friday at Taylor County with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
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