Manning – The Manning High School football team played host to a 4-team scrimmage on Thursday at Ramsey Stadium. The other teams involved were Lake City, Fairfield Central and Timberland.
And as one might expect, the head coaches were pleased but admitted that there was still plenty of work to do.
“The first time against other people I thought it went very well,” said Lake City’s Jamison Estep, who is the acting head coach as head coach Ronnie Baker recovers from serious injuries suffered in a traffic accident last month. “Our older guys came out and demonstrated ... did what we thought they could do. We've got a long way to go. We've got a lot to polish. You look at this list (of notes Estep kept during the scrimmage), I about ran out of ink.
“It was good to just get out here and beat up on other people instead of beating up on themselves. The young pups I was worried about, they showed up tonight. That's a big positive, a big positive.”
“I didn't think it was bad,” said Timberland head coach Greg Wright. “You know there is always some room for improvement. We're just trying to teach them how to push, how to strain. We've got a great, young group. The O(ffensive) line, they're a year older. They played together last year so that's a good thing.
“I feel like we're heading in the right direction. We've got some guys running around, working hard. Just the effort and the attitude I'm proud of, but we just have to keep getting better every day.”
“It was a typical first scrimmage,” said Manning head coach Reggie Kennedy. “We made a few mental mistakes, but I loved the effort. We gave great effort.
“Some of the things we did wrong can be fixed. But it was a typical first scrimmage, a few missed tackles, blown assignments. But I loved the effort I saw tonight from my kids.”
Estep has a team that went 4-6 last season and missed the AAA state playoffs after finishing fifth in the 6-team Region 6. The Panthers are breaking in a new quarterback in sophomore Amari Hanna. Estep was pleased with what he saw of the left-hander, who was listed as a running back and middle linebacker last season.
“What really stood out to me is our quarterback play,” Estep said. “This is his first year ever playing quarterback and he took control of the offense today. That's what I was really worried about. He made some good plays. He made some mistakes, but there was a lot of growth.”
Fairfield Central also has a sophomore quarterback in Cameron McMillon, but he has a wee bit more experience than Hanna. He threw for 3,319 yards and 33 touchdowns as a freshman in leading the Griffins to the third round of the AA state playoffs.
McMillon looked good on Thursday, both in throwing the short and intermediate routes as well as the deep ball. He returns his top target from last year in junior Tydarion Grier, who had 73 catches for 1,110 yards and nine touchdowns.
Although McMillon had on a different colored jersey from his teammates to limit the contact, he said having defenders trying to get to him was exhilarating.
“It felt good, honestly,” the 15-year-old said. “I haven’t played against someone (rushing the passer) since last year. It was great to do it against some other competition besides my own team.
“I had to get back into the rhythm of getting used to being pressured while throwing,” added McMillon, who did participate in the non-rushing 7-on-7 competitions over the summer.
Kennedy brings back several starters on both sides of the football from a Monarch team that went 9-3, finished second in Region 6-AAA and reached the second round of the state playoffs. Three of those returning starters are on the offensive line, which impressed Kennedy on Thursday.
“They played a lot better today than I thought they would,” Kennedy said. “It was just our third day hitting moving targets. We haven't done that since November. We just did shells in the spring. But I could see the difference in just those two days.”
The returning O line starters are senior Jamon Brock, Javon Murray and Mark Locklear.
Timberland had an off year by its standards, only going 4-8. However, the Wolves still finished second in Region 7-AA and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs.
Wright is really excited about the offensive potential of his team. Timberland returns most of its offensive line in sophomore center Desmond Green, who already has a Power 5 Conference offer, junior tackle Kaseam Liferidge and junior guard Josh Ham.
Also back is quarterback Kylen Brown, who has played the posit5ion since he was a freshman.
“He's doing really well,” Wright said of Brown. “He’s got some receivers who are doing pretty good too.”
“He's doing really well,” Wright said of Brown. “He’s got some receivers who are doing pretty good too.”
All Rights Reserved | The High School Sports Report 1986-2021