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Scrimmage shows Tigers' progress
Saturday morning's lawn chair scrimmage at the Fort Scott High School practice field was a chance for the Tigers to run plays at full speed and see what they need to work on.
In other words, business as usual.
The usual schedule was run: Freshmen first, then the varsity/junior varsity running plays for the No. 1 offense, then going with 2's versus 2's, wrapping up with plays for the No. 1 defense.
"We were pleased with the effort," Fort Scott head coach Bob Campbell said. "We asked the kids to play hard. We talked about how we were filming it, how it was a live situation, full scrimmage."
Practice was allowed to start August 16 by the Kansas State High School Activities Association, so Saturday's action was the first time that the team could go full tilt.
"The first week of practice is a tough week, a long week," Campbell said. "We've had seven practices to this point and now they get a chance to actually play and experience the fun part of the game. And I was really excited. The kids played hard. We, obviously, have a lot of things to improve on. But the effort was good and the execution was pretty good for a first scrimmage."
Fort Scott Community College's trainer was on hand in case of any injuries but he wasn't busy at all as the Tigers managed to get through the scrimmage unscathed.
"The best part of the day is no injuries," Campbell said. "We're very fortunate. The kids are in pretty good shape. We got through it without much cramping or anything. No injuries, which is always a plus. We're pretty healthy right now so, hopefully, this next week, we can build on what we did today and get a little bit better."
The Tigers will have only one more chance to work in a game situation with the Red & White Scrimmage Friday night at Frary Field. The freshmen begin at 6 p.m. with the varsity/JV to follow.
Saturday's varsity/JV scrimmage went about 90 minutes. At the end, the coaching staff sounded very pleased with what they saw.
"We got the chance to see the kids in a game-type mode," Campbell said. "We still have to play a little faster and a little harder. We have to run a little harder and block a little longer. But, overall, the effort was good and there's been marked improvement over this last week."
Campbell noted that this week will be the time that he and his staff will work on adding new things and fine tuning prior to Friday's scrimmage.
"We came back Monday and spent some time evaluating with the kids on film," Campbell said. "We'll look over the things we need to improve on. The final week before Labette (County) is game week, so this week we want to get in the things we need to be doing. We're going to work hard on special teams, offense and defense and make sure we feel solid about where we're at."
After the scrimmage, there were be more evaluation before coming back the next Monday to put in the game plan for the season opener at Labette County Sept. 3.
"Game week, we don't want to be changing a lot of things," Campbell said. "So this week is ... a key work week for us. We want to get special teams cleaned up and to find our depth on offense, defense and special teams."