Fort Scott High School senior Alex Barner (6) makes a leaping catch over a teammate for a touchdown during the Tigers' lawnchair scrimmage Saturday morning on the high school practice field. The annual Red & White Scrimmage will be held at Frary Field starting at 6 p.m. Friday night. (Tribune photo/Scott Nuzum)

Having only been on the field five times so far this pre-season, Fort Scott High's football team stuck to the basics during the lawnchair scrimmage at the FSHS practice field Saturday morning.

"We kept it real basic today," Tiger head coach Don Epps said. "It has nothing to do with schemes right now. Everything is fundamentals and technique. And I felt we had a lot of effort today. We're going to look at how the kids played fundamentally and how coachable they are. Can they play in our system and what can they do to improve for next week?"

The freshmen scrimmaged first. The varsity/JV came out and worked the No. 1 offense against the JV defense first. Then there were some plays run with a mix of players before concluding with the No. 1 defense against the JV offense.

Because the Tigers can only practice once a day and their opening opponent, Nevada, will already have a game in hand, Epps says there will be more scrimmaging this week.

"We're going to crank it up in the pads next week," Epps said. "We're going to have full-out live scrimmages. Monday is an offensive day, then Tuesday is a defensive day. Wednesday is a split day. Thursday will not be a traditional pre-game but more polishing and tuning for the Red and White Scrimmage."

Because Missouri's association approved a second qualifier from each of its districts, doubling it's playoff field, that state chose to begin its regular season a week earlier so that its playoffs wouldn't go into December. Thus, while Fort Scott is scrimmaging this Friday night, Nevada will be going to Bolivar, Mo., for its regular-season opener. So this week, the Tigers will try to make practice and the Red and White Scrimmage as real as it can.

"Next week is a game week for us," Epps said. "It's the Red and White (Scrimmage) but we're going to treat it like a game week."

One player was injured during the scrimmage and one was hurt in practice on Friday. Otherwise, it appears the Tigers have been lucky to escape the injury bug so far.

"Kolby Allen had an ankle sprain (Friday)," Epps said. "And Dakota Gillen has a knee sprain, preliminary, so we're going to keep an eye on him. But overall, we're healthy; no major injuries. We're looking forward to getting started next week."

There are several positions where the Tigers look to be quite deep, so many spots are still up for grabs, according to Epps.

"Right now, all the spots are still open," he said. "The kids know to keep working hard."

Friday's scrimmage begins at 6 p.m. Admission is one can of soda or sports drink.