Observations from Scrimmage #2

The Wildcats held their 2nd scrimmage of the spring yesterday. In my first spring football dispatch, I touched on the quarterback battle and the three main candidates for the job and a few kids who might have turned some heads with their performance in the first scrimmage on Wednesday. In this post, I'll be focusing on some new faces, and a few familiar ones. This post will also be a little shorter; I've got a busy weekend ahead.

The JV scrimmage was much more evenly matched this time around as the offense got 4 scores, including one on a option keeper in which junior (to-be) QB Sean Despres scampered to the endzone virtually untouched. After that clunker on Wednesday, the JV offense looked much improved. Defensively, Tyvon Alexander, a junior safety, had 2 interceptions.

Jared Taylor was a standout in Friday's proceedings as he took this Bryson Powers pass, shook Kason Franklin, and burned the defense for a touchdown. He also lined up at cornerback and intercepted a pass; the starting receivers are also getting reps in the secondary. Entering his 3rd season as a varsity player, Jared is someone who will definitely be counted on to provide leadership. He'll also be a valuable target for whoever starts at quarterback next season.  

Now, one series later, Jared was on the receiving end of this jarring hit from Myles Wilson. He performed well as a sophomore thrown into the fire of varsity football, but with one season under his belt, I expect Myles to make a significant leap forward performance-wise and emerge as a leader on the defense. In the first two scrimmages, he has looked more poised in the secondary and a little more confident in his tackling. 

A couple of returning players in the front 7, Keith Watson and Caleb Smith, were in the backfield for a good portion of the scrimmage. Especially Keith, who was virtually unblockable in the pass rush. With his excellent speed and unrelenting tenacity from the outside linebacker spot, he has the potential to emerge as a significant problem for opposing offensive linemen in the district. The defensive line played with some serious intensity yesterday and had their way with their counterparts on offense.

On to the QB battle.... dropped passes remain an issue. Most of the throws from Bryson Powers, Austin Goffney, and Jacob Kainer looked to me like they were well-placed and rather catchable balls. The only problem was that they were just dropped. 

Austin Goffney did a better job of putting his throws on the mark on Friday; on one drive, he found a totally uncovered Jack Barrientez on a wheel route in the red zone that was inexplicably dropped. That drive, unfortunately, ended without a touchdown, as a botched pitch was recovered by the defense right outside the goal line.

From my observations of the first two scrimmages, I believe that Austin is the best improviser of the three candidates. They are all at least solid, but Austin's physicality puts him at the top in that aspect. He also has pretty good strength for a wiry kid; he's a tough runner once he's underway, and would-be tacklers bounce off of him with surprising ease, which will definitely serve him well when he's forced to use his feet to extract himself from tough situations. On the run, he made a couple of solid throws; rolling out to his right, he found an open man who nearly got the first down, and while under pressure, he lobbed a pass over the heads of the pursuing linemen and found Michael Young, who was coming out of the backfield. He also caught a couple of passes; one of them went for a nice gain, but he did come up a little shaken up. However, nothing significant; just a cramp, it seems. Tempo is still an area that Austin needs to improve; he has to know that in this offense, the next play starts instantaneously. 

Overall, I would probably call Friday a spirited draw. A few more completed passes would have tipped the scales slightly in the offense's favor. 

Help (still) wanted: I'm still looking for three players (1 sophomore, 1 junior, and 1 senior) in the program to serve as guest writers. I didn't get much luck in finding anyone last season, but the offer is still open. If you're interested, please direct your questions to me on Twitter.