LFO exhibits toughness, grit in scrimmage against East Ridge
The LFO Warriors suited up and put the pads on Friday to give fans a preview of this fall’s gridiron action.
Although no one officially kept score, the controlled scrimmaged—a game organized by drives as opposed to quarters—ended in a 6-6 tie with the East Ridge Pioneers, a team that went to the Elite Eight of the Tennessee Division I Class AAA state playoffs last season.
With coaches and referees on the field, each team’s offense ran 10 plays before turning things over to their counterparts.
LFO head coach Bo Campbell said he wasn’t concerned with the unofficial score. Instead, he said he was focused on his team practicing winning tendencies.
“We had a successful spring,” Campbell said. “One of the things that I was really proud of our kids was that we got physical. We talked about being mentally prepared and aggressive and physical. I’m really proud of the guys. They were flying around and had that confidence that we’ve been missing.”
The action began with the Warriors’ firstteam defense shutting down East Ridge’s firstteam offense.
On LFO’s first offensive drive, they were able to move the ball from the midfield down to the 3-yard line on the legs of running backs Nathan Williams and Jacob Flanagan. However, the drive was halted from a combination of penalties and sacks of Warrior quarterback Zach Vaughn, which pushed the offense back to the 15.
“The only thing we have to work on is when we drive the ball down the field, we got to get in the end zone,”, Campbell said. “There was a time when we got down by the threeor four-yard line, and we couldn’t get it in. We got to learn how to finish drives. And that’s football. You got to take advantage of those opportunities.”
On the team’s second drive, Vaughn was able to stick the ball to tight end Lee McCracken, who made a stellar grab, but the offense was still unable to score.
East Ridge’s running back Lorenzo Stewart found the end zone on his team’s second drive.
The Red-and-White’s second-team offense was able to matriculate the ball down the field on their third offensive drive. This time, they capped it off with a 14yard touchdown from quarterback Ruddy Ware.
On the defensive side of the ball, Christopher Newsom was able to make a spectacular interception off of Pioneer quarterback Alonzo Russell, returning the ball from the 45 to the 25-yard line.
“That’s the great thing about these scrimmages; it’s a chance for us to see who is going to step up for us this year,” Campbell said. “Newsom’s been working in with the ones and twos. He did a really good job of breaking on that ball. But I was really impressed with all our guys.”
With the team culminating the twoweek spring practice with a scrimmage, players will look to workout sessions in June.
“We hit summer workouts,” Campbell added. “As soon as we are out of school we are going to hit that weight room hard and get bigger, stronger and faster, which should help us get even more physical. What type of commitment will the kids have during the offseason program for the summer?
“Now we had a really big commitment in the past, so I’m looking for that commitment. We have about 20-plus seniors this year, and their all being great leaders right now. If they can keep that up, I’m excited.”