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| Greg Reid catches a punt during Friday's scrimmage. |
The scrimmage served as a dress rehearsal for next week's opener against the Cardinals.
“This was good for us to get out and have some competition under the lights,” football head coach David Dean said.
The Blazer football team was split into two teams for Friday’s scrimmage. The starting offense and starting defense worked on the white team. Playing on the same team allowed the players to get a feel for game-like situations.
“If the offense was coming off the field, we are not used to guys like Chas Matthews, and all those defensive guys, catching us and telling us ‘good job’ and stuff,” said quarterback Cayden Cochran. “Usually they are jawing at you and telling you how bad you are during practice. So it was cool with them being on the same side as us.”
“Basically, it was a trial run for us,” Dean said. “We wanted to make sure our guys understood what we are going to do in the game — who is going to call the different special teams, make sure our special teams are good. And we wanted to make sure, as coaches, that all our communication lines were good.”
One coaching change that was evident Friday night was the move of co-defensive coordinator Seth Wallace to the booth. Wallace will coach the games from the coaches’ booth so he can better see the secondary, according to Dean.
"Last year, I think Seth missed some things on the sidelines," Dean said. "Having two coordinators and both being on the sideline, it just made sense for one of them to go up. We need Earl (Chambers) to be on the field so he can talk to the front-seven guys and Seth, being in the secondary, can see route combinations easier from the press box."
Defensively, the performance was a much-improved effort from last week’s scrimmage when the No. 1 offense moved the ball at its will.
“I feel like we came out and had a good game on offense and defense,” linebacker Ryan Smith said. “We are just trying to get the finishing touches so we will be good next week.”
Former Florida State Seminole Greg Reid was featured early in the scrimmage. Reid started the Blazer defense and returned two punts. The two-time Region 1-AAAAA Player of the Year returned the second punt 49 yards before he was tackled by the punter. Reid left the field with an apparent knee injury and did not return.
After the scrimmage, the injury did not worry Dean.
“I saw him running off the field here at the end,” Dean said. “I think he is fine. It looked like he just took a shot on the knee. I will have to give him a hard time. The punter is who made the tackle on him right there. But I think he is fine.”
Along with Reid, wide receiver Quin Roberson had a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown.
“A lot of it will depend on what we see and what the punt team does,” said Dean about his options at punt returner. “Hopefully, we can get to the point to where it is hard to kick to either one of those guys.”
Cochran finished the night 6 of 7 for 99 yards and a touchdown. The Blazer defense allowed just 150 yards to the black team offense.
