When all was said done last Friday night, Banks County High School head football coach Blair Armstrong took just what he wanted from his team’s preseason scrimmage against Johnson High School of Gainesville.
With two weeks remaining until the official season opener against Washington-Wilkes, Armstrong wanted to see where his team stood and see what areas the coaches still needed to work on. He got his answer.
“I was very impressed with the effort our players showed,” Armstrong said after he and the coaches spent the weekend breaking down the scrimmage. “We were in decent shape even though we had several players going both ways.”
There were some execution issues for the Leopards in the scrimmage although Armstrong said he almost expected that. Fortunately, the scrimmage was two weeks before the first regular season game which gives the coaches more time to work on necessary areas.
Armstrong said the players would spend quality time in the film room this week to see where mistakes were made.
Still, the coach said he liked the overall “hustle and attitude” shown.
“I also thought our young kids played well,” Armstrong said. “We are working toward perfection. Everyone else is in the same boat. We are going to keep working on the little things. We evaluate everything and show the players what they need to work on. It takes numerous reps to get everything right. It can get boring at times when you go over something a hundred times.”Several Leopards made standout plays in the scrimmage last week. Lyn Hester recovered a fumble and returned it to the 1-yard line.
That play eventually led to a BCHS touchdown run by Justin Beasley for the first score of the contest. Hester capped off the score with the point after kick.
Zack Dale recovered two fumbles in the scrimmage while Chase Armour played well from his safety position. Eli Autry also recovered a fumble.
Beasley also scored the second touchdown for the Leopards on a 3-yard run in the second half. Dylan Lackey scored the third and final touchdown for BCHS on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Officially, Johnson held on for a 21-20 win in the scrimmage although the junior varsity players took the field during the fourth quarter. The Leopards were even at the Johnson half-yard line in the final minute of the game before turning the football over on downs.
“We were very vanilla in the schemes we ran,” Armstrong said. “We didn’t want to show anything that other teams might see.”
Game planning has already begun for Washington-Wilkes, Armstrong said, as well as other opponents.
“We are planning ahead for all teams we will face,” the coach said. “We have some small details we are putting in for Washington-Wilkes. They were in our region last year so we know a good bit about them. We know they are going to be tough.”
