With just two starters on offense and four on defense returning from the 2020 Tiger football team, many of those new players had their first time facing varsity competition this past Friday in Jarrell, where Rockdale had it’s first scrimmage of the season.
“Generally speaking, I was really pleased with the effort,” said Jacob Campsey, RHS head footballl coach. “It’s hard to tell and we’ll have to go back a nd watch film, but I felt like we played pretty hard for the most part and that was against a pretty hard-playing team.”
“There’s a lot to work on, but the effort is there and if it stays there, we will be okay,” he said.
RHS outscored the Cougars 6-2 with four touchdowns scored from the goal-line and two long touchdowns with a run and a pass. Although Campsey liked the scoring, he said the evening’s primary focus was seeing every player they had.
“The biggest thing is that we wanted to put a lot of people on film,” he said. “We were mixing and matching and we had a lot of different combinations out there.”
“We have to figure out who our ones and twos are., Campsey said. “With this new group, and such a young group, we don’t know that yet.”
Some of the things Campsey said they need to work on were perimeter blocking, how they play up front and down the field passing.
MEXIA—The Tigers play in their final scrimmage Thursday evening at home against Mexia.
Unlike Jarrell, who went win-less in district during 2020, the Blackcats went undefeated in District 7-4A-II and made it to the second round of the post-season.
Like the Tigers, MHS lost a lot of players to graduation and have just three returning starters on offense and four on defense.
Among their returning players, they have defensive lineman Dontavious Daniels, a 6-2 210-pound proven playmaker who also runs a 4.8 that finished last season with 30 tackles and six sacks. The ‘Cats also have receiver John Luna, who turned six of his 12 catches into touchdowns last fall.
The Tigers start their practice game at 7 p.m.
MILANO—The Eagles get to play on Pruitt Field for the first time this season Thursday evening when they host Anderson-Shiro for a scrimmage.
Last Saturday, Milano made the 100-mile trip to Cypress Christian School for their first scrimmage of the season.
Although the Eagles have less than a third of their starters returning from their 2020 squad, they have an experienced back field with junior running back Josh Millar, who ran for 775 yards and eight touchdowns through six games during his sophomore season before a knee injury put a halt to his year. He will also have experienced offensive linemen Layne Ferrell, Greg Storey and Marcos Mederos to protect him.
Another player who brings seasoning to the Eagle roster is Millar’s classmate Jayce Todd, who came on late last season with 450 total yards on the season including a 143-yard performance in a loss to Iola last October where he completed 10 of his 11 passes.
Scrimmaging begins at 6 p.m. for the junior varsity.
THORNDALE—The Bulldogs are also staying at home this weekend when they scrimmage with Riesel on Friday evening.
THS has many familiar faces this season with six starters returning on offense and seven on defense.
Their defense features players like senior Stryker Leschber, 6-4 235-pound defensive end that had 81 tackles and seven sacks last season. Leschber, who has received offers from Columbia and Penn, also had 439 receiving yards as a tight end.
They also have linebacker Hayden Kylberg, who had 135 tackles last season.
On offense, they have receivers like Branson McCoy and junior quarterback Coy Stutts, who had 1,502 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2020.
Scrimmaging starts at 6 p.m. with the junior varsity, followed by the varsity at 7:30.
GRIDIRON—This fall’s edition of the Gridiron will be released in the next edition of the Reporter with interviews from Campsey, Milano’s Nick Morehead, Thorndale’s John Kovar and Cameron’s Rick Rhoades.
The annual fall sports preview will also feature interviews with RHS volleyball coach Kelsey Hudson and cross country coach Cheryl Meuth.
Rockdale vs. Mexia
Scrimmage at Tiger Stadium Thursday, Aug. 19
Junior Varsity: 5:30 p.m.
Varsity: 7 p.m.
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