Prep Football: Off & Running
The feel of a new football season was on display Friday night at both Taylor Field and Boz Adams Field with Harrisburg and Eldorado taking part in annual scrimmage games.
At Harrisburg The split-squad match-up also marked the return to the varsity level for Hall-of-Fame head coach Al Way.
"Tonight is kind of like a glorified pracitce," said Way who was happy his team came out of the scrimmage relatively injury free. "We got one guy dinged up a little bit, but they don't think it's serious."
The varsity contest consisted of one, 15 - minute period in which the Bulldogs wearing white came away on the better end of a 27-7 final.
The purple club, led by senior starting quarterback Noah Vallette, scored on the first play from scrimmage on an 80-yard run from junior Matt Upchurch.
Senior Kane Carrigan, who rushed for just shy of 200 yards on last year's 2-7 team, scored two rushing touchdowns for the white club.
Classmate Tylar Marler, the second - leading rusher from a year ago, ran in another.
"We just wanted to be really fundemental and be able to get our guys on film and see their blocking and tackling," said Way. "We got beat on some long passes, but that's some stuff that we hadn't worked on a whole lot. And it's something that we won't be doing against Mount Carmel."
Junior Austin Hefner had a fumble recovery that he returned for a score.
"Overall, I thought we were very physical and I thought the backs ran hard," said Way.
Although Harrisburg didn't display too much of its passing playbook, sophomore quarterback Isaiah Saulsberry did connect on a 60-yard pass to senior tight end Tyler Lightner.
The Bulldogs are at Mount Carmel in Week 1 before hosting Du Quoin, Boonville, Ind. and West Frankfort in Weeks 2-4 at Taylor Field.
The Harrisburg sophomore club, made up of 30 players, also played one quarter at Friday's scrimmage.
Thirty-three freshmen also suited up for the first time
Eldorado Trusting In The Process
At Eldorado, it was more of a case of dotting the I's and crossing the T's for head coach Brandon Hampton.
Since the head coach was hired, he's put a primary emphasis on building up the lower level programs, exceeding just what's outside the doors of EHS, getting more involvement in the youth programs.
With that, close to 100 players, ranging in fifth grade to varsity, were recognized individually at Friday's Meet The Eagles.
As far as action, there wasn't much from Hampton's varsity group, as the first team offense needed just two plays, before Drew Woolcott broke off a big run for a touchdown and then completed the two-point conversion as senior quarterback Adam Ninness found him in the end zone.
That concluded the varsity's night, handing it over to the lower level programs.
"We got out of there injury free, which is always key. We had practiced earlier in the day and it was one of our better practices of camp and because we wanted to stay healthy, we went real short with the varsity, but I like how this team is coming together. We are getting great leadership out of our seniors and I think our quarterback is doing a tremendous job. We have a lot of running backs, but the key for us will be our offensive line."
Four of Eldorado's first five games of the season will be on the road, starting with the season opener Saturday at Vienna-Goreville, in a game slated to start at 1 p.m.
As much as Friday night was about football, it was also about community. The two are very important for Hampton and when he can combine the two, the recipe is what showed up to the EHS Sports Complex as fans lined the fence of Boz Adams Field and a near-full bleachers.
"Football is important in Eldorado. We have a nice culture going over here right now and with well over 100 kids playing, the stands are full and it's good to see. It was a nice night and I believe we are headed for great things in the 2015 season, but this is just the beginning of where we can keep growing this program."