The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Amherst greets Lorain with physical play
Both teams find positives during scrimmage
On Aug. 12 at Amherst, both teams squared off in a scrimmage and showed flashes of what could be in store.
Lorain and Amherst had polar opposite seasons a year ago. Lorain advanced to a Division I regional final, while the Comets won only two games. Both have different looks in 2017. On Aug. 12 at Amherst, the teams squared off in a scrimmage and showed flashes of what could be in store. The Comets outplayed Lorain in the first part of the game and were the far more aggressive team before Lorain settled in.
“We came out and hit hard, so I liked that,” Comets senior offensive lineman Matt Lee said. “Our O-line has a lot of things to improve on. We only have a couple seniors, so we’re going to keep
plucking away and I need to help them out as much as I can.”
The Comets are transitioning under first-year coach Mike Passerrello, who’s instilling a culture change and is trying to adapt a winning mindset for the Amherst players.
“It’s a completely different atmosphere,” Lee added. “We have fun and work hard at the same time. I love every second of it and I enjoy every practice.
“We have to stay aggressive and come out hard every single play. We’ve been preparing for this time since January and we’re hungry.”
The Comets had a few big plays offensively, including a deep sideline catch from wide receiver Devin Holmes, and a 1-yard touchdown for running back Khennedy Scagliozzo..
Amherst shut down Lorain several plays in a row, and Passerrello is hoping that these signs can translate once the real games begin.
“We made a goal that we wanted to come out as the more physical team,” he said. “This was our first scrimmage and this was their second, and we need to play physical football and our kids need to come out with that mindset.
“We’re trying to change the culture around here with the strength and conditioning during the offseason, and moving forward with the style and physical play we want. We’re going to compete every play, whether something good or bad happens.”
Lorain, despite looking a bit lethargic, still had bright spots, including a rushing touchdown from Isaiah McDowell and midfield interception from Ashaun Barker.
“Once our kids got punched in the mouth, they responded well,” Lorain coach Dave McFarland said.
A big question for Lorain in 2017 is finding bigplay ability — something that was its bread and butter a year ago. With the Titans no longer having Naz Bohannon, Carlos Chavis, Daesean Brooks and Aaron Huff, someone will need to fill that void.
Senior quarterback Justin Sturgill, who guided this team to 10 straight wins last season, is back and looking better.
“In the beginning, we were really slow and didn’t do what we do best,” Sturgill said. “But in the second half, we just played hard. We’re molding into a great team. We’re always trying to find players to make big plays and I feel like instead of having one or two players that did it last year, we have four or five this year and it’s exciting.
“I have to step up as a leader and I’m trying to show them that we can actually do this.”