Published: August 21, 2008 10:49 am            

Eustace and Mabank win scrimmages

You’d have thought coaches in Eustace and Mabank had lost last weekend’s football scrimmages.

Technically, both the Dogs and Panthers won their skirmishes with Venus and Mineola, but realistically, both Doug Wendel at Eustace and Jimmy Cantrell at Mabank, are finding lots to fret about.

Cantrell, in fact, seemed downright fuzzy about his team’s lethargic effort in a two touchdowns to one win over Mineola.

Wendel admits his team had Venus outmanned, and he liked what his first team did. After that, the drop off is cause for concern.

Of course, coaches love to whine this time of year, tamping down expectations early while hoping to surprise later on.

You can see both teams for yourself this evening, if you’re skeptical of what they’re telling us.

Eustace’s scrimmage with Elkhart, which was scheduled for Elkhart, has been moved to Eustace.

The JVs start at 6 p.m. with the varsity taking over at 7 p.m.

Mabank is scrimmaging in Canton, the freshmen going at 5 p.m. and the varsity around 6 p.m.

“I want us to play with more intensity,” Cantrell said Tuesday afternoon.

Asked if this year’s team was matching the intensity of last year’s playoff team, Cantrell said, “Not yet.

The Mabank coach did like the retention his team had from last season on both offense and defense.

“We had four or five kids out,” he said. “It was a typical pre-season scrimmage.

Wide receivers Jake Birch and Micah Parish are both banged up, Parish with a strained hamstring and Birch with a back injury.

Cantrell said he’ll probably hold Birch out until the season opener with Kaufman.

The Panthers gave up an 80-yard scoring run on the first play of the scrimmage against Mineola’s option offense.

After that inauspicious start, the Panthers didn’t give up another first down the rest of the scrimmage.

Still, Cantrell in summing up the scrimmage, said, “We’ve got to get serious.”

Wendel said his first team played well with junior Trevan Johnson scoring twice on a 25-yard touchdowns.

Sean Baldwin also had a good day rushing the ball from his fullback position, scoring once during a goal line situation.

As for the Dogs’ limited passing game of last year, Wendel said junior quarterback Chris Compton is showing a noticeable improvement in his passing arm.

Wendel said he was pleased with a couple of young defensive tackles in junior Tony Alfaro, a 280-pounder, and Zach Stokes, a 280-pound sophomore defensive tackle.

Senior Josh Lopez had a good outing at that spot, also.

“Our first team had a dominating performance,” Wendel finally admitted, though the final score was 4-3.

“They didn’t get a first down on our first bunch,” Wendel said.

But he said he was struggling to find leadership on this year’s team.

“We do have depth problems,” he said. “They’re going to have to stay healthy.”

One surprise in the scrimmage, Wendel said, was the play of Nick

Dunlap, an undersized offensive tackle at 180 pounds,

The Dogs open the season a week from Thursday in Tyler when the Dogs play Grace Community High School at All Saint’s High School.

        

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