El Dorado scrimmages against Scrappers
MAGNOLIA - El Dorado's preseason benefit scrimmage against Nashville on Monday revealed some areas of concern for the Wildcats. The format featured two quarters of regular football except for special teams, which weren't live. The second half was with the younger groups, which ran two sets of 10 plays apiece. Southern Arkansas University hosted the scrimmage.
The varsity half ended with the Scrappers holding a 9-7 advantage.
"The score is not a big deal. But, there are things we've got to fix," said El Dorado coach Scott Reed. "My issue is how much effort we played with. At times, I didn't think we played hard enough. Or, intelligently enough."
Neither team turned the ball over. But, the Scrappers had a pair of 13-play drives, which seemed to take the starch out of El Dorado's defense.
"That team played hard the whole half. I didn't think we played with the sense of urgency that we have to. It looked like we had highs and lows," said Reed. "I don't think we're in good enough shape. We've got to do a better job getting them off the field on third down. We got them in a lot of third downs and let them convert. We've got to be disciplined with what we're doing, disciplined with our eyes and with what our coverage responsibility tells us to do, getting into the right gap. It looked to me like we got tired. That's football. If you play too many snaps defensively, you're going to get that way.
"And, I think their tempo bothered us. They got the ball and they snapped it quick. It looked like we weren't in good enough shape there. But, that's why you play preseason football games. I'm not really worried about the score. They made a field goal and we missed one. The things that stood out to me was we have to do a better job of executing what we're doing, whether it's offensively or defensively. We've got a lot of work to do special team-wise with snapping, with getting guys on the field and making calls and knowing what we're doing. And, we've got to get in better condition."
The Wildcats took the ball first at their own 30 and put together a 10-play drive. Keontae Larry had a 10-yard run and Alex Hicks kept for 16 before passing to Devunte Kidd for 11. An 8-yard run by Larry gave El Dorado a first down at the Nashville 5.
But, after Hicks was dropped for a two-yard loss, the Wildcats had a pair of incomplete passes. Greysen Hubbard just missed wide on a 25-yard field goal.
The Scrappers drove eight plays before failing on fourthand-4 when L.J. Yarbrough broke up a pass.
The Wildcats found the end
zone on their third possession. Hicks hooked up with Kidd on a 41-yard completion. Two plays later, Hicks bootlegged 18 yards to the 1-yard line and then scored on a sneak one play later. Hubbard added the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the first quarter.
Nashville answered with a 13-play drive, which included completions of 15 and 19 yards. The latter came on thirdand-9. The drive ended with a 36-yard field goal with 9:36 left in the second.
Despite a 21-yard pass from Stuart Bowers to Davonte Yarbrough, El Dorado's next drive stalled at midfield. The Wildcats punted the Scrappers back to their own 5.
A sack by Martavious Green forced a third-and-long from inside the 10. But, Nashville completed a 57-yard pass. The Scrappers would later convert a fourthand-4 before scoring on a 9-yard run, taking a 9-7 lead with 1:55 left in the half.
El Dorado went to its two-minute offense. Hicks converted a fourthand-5 with a 15-yard scramble. But, the Scrappers' pressure on the quarterback only allowed two completed passes of 3 and 6 yards before the game ended on an incomplete pass attempt.
"I think we missed some chances on both sides of the ball, chances to finish,"
said Reed. "I thought our offense moved the ball pretty well. We just weren't very efficient. We didn't do a good job of finishing the first drive after it looked like we were handling them. Our decision making wasn't real good. That's just football. When you have momentum and you get it going, you've got to keep it."
Safety Calab Scott left the game with an injury and did not return. When asked about his status Monday night, Reed said, "I don't know. It looked like that unsettled us when he went out. It looked like his ankle got rolled. I don't think it's bad. Then again, an ankle, sometimes they take awhile to heal."
Fatigue seemed to be a factor, at least for a few of the Wildcats on defense.
"Our offense didn't have a problem because we played at a pace we like," said Reed. "Our defense played at a pace they're not normally used to playing at. And, I don't know how many drives they had that were 10 plays. That's rare. We had chances to get them off the field on third down and we did not do a good job on third down of getting them off the field."
Nashville dominated the second half, scoring on drives of six and five plays.
The Wildcats scored on a 70-yard scramble by quarterback Jarmel Love.
"These games are invaluable to us because it shows you what you've got to fix," Reed concluded. "It just magnifies the areas you have to go to work at. Our kids have to be willing to go to work on 'em."