Wildcats work on correcting mistakes

Keystone tunes up with powerful St. Paul

Keystone scheduled a scrimmage with Norwalk St. Paul Aug. 11 knowing the perennial playoff-contending Flyers would put it through the ringer.

That’s all part of the experience, though.

Most coaches likely don’t want a team to come in and beat up on it as opening week gets closer, but Coach Don Griswold and his staff hosted St. Paul so mistakes would be exposed and players would be tested to the brink and come out the other side better prepared for Bay in Week 1.

“St. Paul is one of the best football programs in Northern Ohio. They expect to win their league and make the playoffs, so they’re great competition and we come out here to find mistakes and pair those with solutions,” Griswold said. “We’re here to get some good film and just get better. That’s what today is all about.”

The scrimmage started well enough for the Wildcats, who began the day on defense.

During the first series, the Keystone defense picked off a pass near midfield before forcing a fumble the very next play.

For starting quarterback Jacob Shackelford, that was all the motivation he and his offense needed to come out strong against St. Paul.

Unfortunately, the offense wasn’t as sharp right away, including some missed connections on passes. Before long, however, the junior quarterback was on target and leading his team down field the way Griswold expects him to do Friday nights this fall.

“When (the scrimmage) started off we got a little hype with the defense and I just wanted to carry that over to the offense,” Shackelford said. “We started off slow on offense but we just needed someone to yell, get up in our face for us to get up and keep playing.

“We know we’re playing a really good team and we have to give it our all . ... We just have to come out here and learn from it.”

Griswold was encouraged by Shackelford’s progress as the day went on and found a number of positives to take away from the day on top of the mistakes he was anticipating when the scrimmage began.

“He’s a dynamic player,” Griswold said of his quarterback. “He’s going to do some amazing things on Fridays and all the mistakes he made today are easily correctable. And all the good things he did today, we’re going to keep doing those things. It’s a lot of positive.”

“I love going against (St. Paul) . ... We did a lot of good today and we did a lot of bad today, so it’s all good.”

Keystone hosts Bay Aug. 24 in the season opener.

JEN FORBUS — THE MORNING JOURNAL Keystone quarterback Jacob Shackleford releases a pass to one of his receivers on Aug. 11.

JEN FORBUS — THE MORNING JOURNAL Members of the Keystone defensive line wait for St. Paul Norwalk’s offense to come to the line of scrimmage on Aug. 11.