Scrimmages show signs of needed work for area teams

Pepperell football coach Rick Hurst saw some good and saw some bad in the Dragons’ first scrimmage against Paulding County. But one thing he could certainly take away was the need for more conditioning.

The Dragons got solid performances from players who stepped up last season Friday night, but Hurst noticed some hesitation from some of his younger players.

“Our conditioning is still the main issue right now,” Hurst said. “But I think you are going to see a big difference from the scrimmage this week and the scrimmage next week.”

Like last season, the Dragons got big help from both Hunter Chastain and Tae Hammond, who provided a steady running game while also starting on defense.

The two backs stepped up last season when senior Devyn Collins went down. Another substantial two-way player is Connor Chandler, who made several big receptions Friday night — includ- ing one for a touchdown — while playing defensive back. Hurst pointed to guys like Chastain, Chandler and Hammond as great examples of what Pepperell needs as it transitions to Class 2A this season, down from 3A.

“We are going to need to play more people, and we need to play some guys who are not used to playing both ways,” Hurst said. “And I told them last night, ‘This is 2A.’ You are going to have to play and you’ll probably play both sides.”

The defense had a few highlights, including an interception by linebacker Braden Adams on Paulding’s first drive of the game. Hurst mentioned him and safety Cameron Miles among the impressive showings on defense.

Overall, Hurst knows he’s going to get the solid type of production from the team leaders, but he still hopes for more development from new starters. He’s glad the team has the second scrimmage against Cass this Friday, allowing more time to prepare.

“Guys like Hunter and Tae Hammond, they are going to know what it’s like to play that many plays in a game,” Hurst said.

“I think some other guys who will be called upon to play both sides didn’t really have an idea. And last night may have given them that reality,” Hurst added.

Meanwhile, Coosa faced some struggles in its scrimmage against Pickens County in Jasper on Friday. Coach Todd Wheeler admitted that his team is young and still very prone to making mistakes.

He was glad, however, that the young players could play an opponent besides themselves, and he hopes the players learn from what they did wrong.

“We made some mistakes. You know, Pickens County is a good team and they capitalized on them,” Wheeler said. “We just had some young guys make some mistakes, so we’ve got to correct those.”

Coosa begins its season in Aug. 26 when the Eagles travel to Dalton to take on Coahulla Creek.