Tigers football coach Jim Walsh said Friday’s 35-7 loss to Wayne County in Jesup doesn’t tell a true story of the scrimmage.
He said the scrimmage was his last chance at evaluating his depth chart at certain positions, so he dressed nearly 100 players.
“And almost all of them played,” he said.
In the first half, Walsh said he primarily went with his starters and veterans.
During the second half, he rotated in backups.
Tiger quarterback LaBaron Anthony got all his reps in the first half, and Walsh said the veterans did what they had to do.
“We controlled the ball well. We controlled the game tempo, and when we threw in the first half, we did really well,” he said. “We scored on our first drive and were up, 7-0, until the last few minutes of the second quarter, when we started to rotate our other players in and things broke down a bit.”
Walsh said he was concerned about potential injuries and having sufficient depth to cover positions throughout the season. Since Friday’s game was a scrimmage, he used the opportunity to see everyone play.
“We were able to answer some questions at certain positions and were left with more questions at others,” he said.
Darren Beverly scored the Tigers’ first-quarter touchdown, and Sterling Burns looked great at center, Walsh noted.
When Burns was relieved by backups, the Tigers quickly had two fumbles and bad snaps that gave Wayne County opportunities to score.
Walsh said the Yellow Jackets’ younger players already were skilled and well-seasoned, thanks to their feeder program.
“They came in, and they already knew what to do,” Walsh said, adding several freshman Tigers were a bit anxious as they got their reps in.
“Some of them were nervous because it was their first time in a football game,” Walsh said. “And it’s not that they were nervous about getting hit. They were afraid to make mistakes.”
Walsh said they have two weeks to get ready for Liberty County, and the scrimmage showed his first team can win games.
“We do need to work on a few substitution problems and mental mistakes, but overall, I was pleased with the older kids and the hustle and heart of the younger kids,” he said.
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