South vs Preble Shawnee Scrimmage

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By my count South's varsity was on top 34 to 13 at tonights scrimmage when I left - and it looked like both squads had JV's on the field at that time. South was not domineering, but they were persistent. When I came home I told my wife that they weren't great, but they played good enough to win. And that sums things up, they are improved, but need to get better. Positives are that they kept coming back, taking advantage of opportunities, and stayed in the face of Shawnee.  I liked the enthusiasm on the sideline, the team had a good attitude.

Both teams were 3 and out on their first possessions.  And it made you wonder if this was going to be a long night with both teams struggling to get a first down.  But on their second possession Shawnee hit their stride. They used both the pass and run to go to about the 30 yard line where they tossed one into the end zone to go up by a score.  South was plagued with penalties and an inconsistent running game. They finally put together a drive where they scored from 26 yards out to even up the scoring. 

Then South intercepted a pass and Wes Cole fired up a hail mary pass that was tipped and caught in the endzone to put South up by a score.  Later he would find the endzone again - this time carrying in the ball from 16 yards out to put South up by two scores.  South's defense really stepped up at this point in the scrimmage.  They stuffed Shawnee and kept their varsity offense contained.  They would not score again until late in the scrimmage. South would score again from 41 yards out and 20 yards out. 

 Cole did a good job at quarterback, he is elusive and if you get by the line he is hard to sack.  And when he has the time, he can throw a decent ball.  And he used several different receivers, not focussing on one target. Running game was sporadic. There were times when the backs were running downhill and raced for decent gains.  Other times they were tentative.  The blocking was decent but not great.  The defense did a fair job.  They bent several times but rallied back to get a stop. Tackling was better, and the pass defense did an OK job, and the line did get in on some sacks.  Penalties were a problem, Shawnee had their fair share, but South gave away the most yardage in penalties. 

South had good numbers on the sidelines, and when their JV's were in the game, they played well.  I saw several good pops by the JV defense and the offense moved the ball and scored.  On the other hand, Shawnee's numbers looked to be down this season.  They are playing against some bigger schools and that lack of depth is going to catch up to them. Their spread offense was able to move the ball, just not consistently.  Their defense was good against the run, but South was able to complete some long passes for big gains.  South should be able to improve on their 3 wins of last season.