Monarch running back Chase Kilgore (2) battles for yardage on Saturday. Marysville played its first scrimmage at Hilliard Bradley.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Although no score is kept, a high school football coach knows how important the first preseason scrimmage is to his team.
It’s the first time a squad can go up against and hit someone other than teammates.
Coaches have certain things they want to see from their teams during those opening sessions each summer.
Marysville High School head coach Brent Johnson is no exception.
He was relatively pleased with what he saw.
“The guys were really physical and they played hard,” said Johnson after Saturday morning’s scrimmage at Hilliard Bradley.
“Our defense got off the field pretty well and our offense was able to move the ball when we got into a rhythm.
“When we do that, we can move the ball.”
One of the positions that has featured an open battle during the preseason is at quarterback, where the Monarchs have to replace the graduated Walker Heard.
Nathan Morey, Logan McSwords and Ashton Schmutz all got their opportunities to show what they could do.
“All of them did good jobs of running the offense,” said Johnson.
The Monarch ground came also looked strong in the hands of Chase Kilgore and Gabe Powers.
While Johnson was pleased with the overall execution of his team, he knows that it was just the first of two preseason scrimmages and that there are plenty of areas that still need a good deal of work.
He said the areas that need to addressed are in all facets of the game before Friday’s preview scrimmage at Hilliard Darby.
“We need to work on our blocking schemes and learn to trust each other as a team,” he said. “The more the guys play together, the more they will learn to trust each other.
“I think we’re where we need to be at this time of the preseason,” he said. “This scrimmage showed us what we have to work on before we scrimmage at Darby on Friday (at 7 p.m.),” said the Monarch boss.
“However, I think we’re in a good spot right now.”