The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
South faces Aurora in first scrimmage
The Rebels feature 18 returning starters this season. They faced the Greenmen in a scrimmage as they prepare for the beginning of the regular season Aug. 20.
After a 3-5 season in 2020, South returns 18 starters.
Despite only losing three starting seniors in total, the Rebels had some questions they hoped a scrimmage against Aurora on Aug. 7 could answer.
Those questions began up front, as the Rebels looked to replace Michael Pushey and Jack Barnoski at center and right tackle, respectively. While the questions weren’t completely answered, they took a step in the right direction as one of the Rebels’ touchdowns was a run behind the center.
“Aurora is pretty physical up front,” said South coach Matt Duffy. “We played a lot of different players up there to see what they could do. We had one guy that plays both ways not go at all today, and had a couple others get a little dinged up. But all in all, we got a lot of those questions answered.”
The blocking up front allowed for the running backs, led by Ira Sampson, to get to the second level of defense. Sampson said the line in front of him can get even better.
“We can still improve some when it comes to blocking,” said Sampson. “We need to be able to stay together as a unit on offense and take accountability if we miss an assignment. Overall though, it was nice to be able to get back to normal on the field going against someone.”
Junior quarterback Colin Quinlan threw into tight windows, avoided the Greenmen’s pressure and found a receiver down the sideline for a touchdown.
“It’s great coaching and great scheming,” said Quinlan. “We run every play for a reason, and the offensive line really stepped up today. There’s still stuff that we need to work on, and we’ll go back and watch the film to see what we need to do to get better.”
The South defense had an up and down day. On the first three Aurora possessions, the Rebels forced and recovered two fumbles, as well as an interception.
On the last three possessions, Aurora found the end zone. South returns all but one starter on the defense. But the defensive missteps didn’t deter Duffy after the end of the scrimmage.
“Both sides of the ball looked really good today,” said Duffy. “We didn’t suffer any major injuries and we’re happy with what our team was able to produce today.”
It was both teams’ first time going against someone other than their own teammates. After being thrown in as a sophomore starting on varsity last season, Quinlan was happy for this measuring stick to see how he has progressed.
“It was a great practice to see where we’re at as a team,” said Quinlan. “It’s better than last year as we’re able to get out here before Week 1 and work against a team like Aurora. It was good practice for everyone and we can all learn from this before the start of the season.”