Defense keeps scoring down in first half, rushing game shines in second half
The Sonoraville Phoenix had a lot of new faces playing important roles on Monday night as they brought two weeks of Spring Practice to a close with their annual Spring Game, and while it may take a little while for the Phoenix fans to learn some new names, they should be encouraged by what they saw.
Several players stepped up to make big plays during Monday’s game, which was played in front of a large crowd of Phoenix faithful.
Sonoraville coach Jim Kremer, who will enter his third season as Phoenix head coach this fall, said he came away from the scrimmage pleased with what he saw.
“The biggest positive is we got out of here with nobody getting hurt,” said Kremer. “We’re fully healthy and everyone got in the game. We had 98 rising seniors, juniors and sophomores dress out, and all of them got in work tonight.
“We split the team evenly tonight so it’s hard to see exactly what you have. But now we’re going to come together as a complete team, and it’s really going to come down to if we can have a great summer. I thought one of the bright spots tonight was how we ran the ball. We ran it pretty hard at times. Now, we’ve just got to continue to get better.”
For more photos from Monday’s Spring Game, see page 2C.
No official score was kept in the scrimmage as the players were split into the “Sonoraville” team and the “Phoenix” team, but both sides saw positives on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
The defense on both sides had the upper hand in the first half as each forced several stops on third down. The Sonoraville offense had the only touchdown in the first two quarters, coming on the final play of the first half. The touchdown run came from Matthew Smith, and everyone in the stadium went crazy as he crossed the goal line.
Smith, a special needs student at Sonoraville High, has become a staple on the sidelines for the Phoenix and a favorite of the coaches, players and fans. Kremer said the moment on Monday was incredible to see.
“I wish they could create Matthew pills because I know I would take them,” said Kremer. “He’s always happy and always a lift to everyone around him. I told the kids that he’d give anything to have their health and be able to play this game so to see the pure joy on his face when he scored that touchdown really made the night. And our kids deserve a lot of credit too. They are very receptive to Matthew and other special needs kids at our school. They really love to be around him, and that shows a lot of character on their part.”
The second half saw the offenses on both sides have a little more production. Austin Jones punctuated a long drive to start the second half with a touchdown run for the Sonoraville team.
The fourth quarter saw two rushing touchdowns for the Phoenix offense, the first coming on a 30-yard TD scamper from Tristan Key and the other on a short touchdown run from Matthew Vincent.
Four different players saw reps at quarterback, as Sonoraville will replace three-year starter Cody Long, who was lost to graduation after leading the team to three straight playoff berths. Camron Keith and Trent Daniel split QB reps for the Sonoraville side, and Patrick Moore and Noah Sullivan each took snaps for the Phoenix.
Kremer said the two weeks of practice overall was very productive and successful for his team.
“Our goal going in was to work on fundamentals and get the kids in the right spots,” said Kremer. “Everyone got a lot of work tonight, and we’ve gotten most of the groups and positions settled where everyone’s going to be. Now, they all know where they are and what they need to work on. I feel like we accomplished all our goals for the Spring.”
Sonoraville will now enter their Summer program, which will start on June 2. Kremer said they will work out three days a week and have several players attend various camps in the next two months.
“The kids have no excuses going into the summer,” said Kremer. “They all know if they work hard, they’re going to get paid on pay day and that pay day is playing on Fridays. Our program philosophy is very clear on that. We feel like we’ve got a lot of good players that are going to have key roles, but we’ve got a lot of other kids that can contribute if they work hard.”
The Phoenix will begin Fall practice in late July before playing their preseason scrimmage on Aug. 12 at Gordon Central. They open the regular season two weeks later on Aug. 26 as they host Model.