Prep Football Notebook: JHS in BB&T Jamboree

Jacksonville football coach Beau Williams shows how he wanted a block done against 300-pound defensive lineman Alvan Muldrow during a recent practice. 

Rick Scoppe/The Daily News

By Rick Scoppe-Sports Editor/The Daily News

Published: Friday, August 16, 2013 at 10:30 AM. 

With two scrimmages already in the books,
Jacksonville
gets one last dress rehearsal tonight before next week’s season opener at Southwest. 

And a dress rehearsal it is since the Cardinals will be wearing their game uniforms when they square off against
South Brunswick
in the 27th annual BB&T Football Jamboree at Legion Stadium in
Wilmington
. 

Unlike run-of-the-mill scrimmages where teams wear their well-worn practice garb, teams in the BB&T Jamboree are required to suit up in what they’ll wear during the season. 

“This is (about) game readiness,” JHS coach Beau Williams said Thursday. “ You have some coaches who get on the field with them.  We don’t.  We use it more getting ready for the first game, try to eliminate mistakes, signals in, all that, and trying to make it more polished for us for our first week.” 

The 10-team scrimmage gets started at
6 p.m.
with Hoggard taking on Whiteville, followed by
Jacksonville
’s clash with
South Brunswick
.  The rest of the lineup: New Hanover-Wallace-Rose Hill, Laney-West Brunswick and Ashley-South Columbus. 

With two scrimmages already in the books, Jacksonville gets one last dress rehearsal tonight before next week’s season opener at Southwest. 

And a dress rehearsal it is since the Cardinals will be wearing their game uniforms when they square off against South Brunswick in the 27th annual BB&T Football Jamboree at Legion Stadium in Wilmington. 

Unlike run-of-the-mill scrimmages where teams wear their well-worn practice garb, teams in the BB&T Jamboree are required to suit up in what they’ll wear during the season. 

“This is (about) game readiness,” JHS coach Beau Williams said Thursday. “ You have some coaches who get on the field with them.  We don’t.  We use it more getting ready for the first game, try to eliminate mistakes, signals in, all that, and trying to make it more polished for us for our first week.” 

The 10-team scrimmage gets started at 6 p.m. with Hoggard taking on Whiteville, followed by Jacksonville’s clash with South Brunswick.  The rest of the lineup: New Hanover-Wallace-Rose Hill, Laney-West Brunswick and Ashley-South Columbus. 

Each scrimmage consists of two 12-minute quarters. 

Tickets are $6 at the gate, $4 in advance at area BB&T branches. 

“It’s pretty good,” Williams said. “ BB&T does a great job with it.  It’s real huge.  There’s a big crowd there.  The kids love it, playing in front of the big crowd.  It’s usually packed.” 

Careful hitting

With just 24 varsity players, Croatan coach David Perry has to be careful just how much hitting he does in practice.  It’s bad enough to have a player hurt in a game, but to have it happen in practice would be even worse. 

Still, Perry knows you can’t practice football without hitting. 

“For the most part you got to do what you’ve got to do.  You’ve got no choice but to go out there and play.  We probably don’t go live as much as some teams anyway.  We’ll have our live sessions and we’ll do Oklahoma-style (hitting) here and there just to toughen kids up and just see who’s going to come up and tackle,” he said. 

“But we’ll run a lot on air.  We’ll do a lot of tempo where we’re changing our speeds and changing out cadences.  In our normal practice we’re probably not as much live as some teams.  So that helps a little (to keep his players from getting hurt).” 

Monday tryouts

Mondays won’t just be the start of a new week this season for Richlands’ football team under first-year coach Justin Snider, who was defensive coordinator last year under Mike Natoli.  Natoli resigned after last season and is now head coach at West Iredell. 

Monday also will be the day Friday’s starters try to keep their jobs. 

“For me every Monday is open tryouts.  I don’t care if we’re in week eight, it’s open tryouts.  Nobody is locked into a starting spot,” Snider said. “ I’m a firm believer that if kids ever get comfortable you lose that competitive edge.” 

Mr. Versatile? 

Dixon senior running back Malik Simmons was asked about his running style.  He paused and then he declared he was “an anything” running back.  If he needs to use his speed, he’ll do so.  If he needs to run over a defender, he’ll put his shoulder down. 

“Or there could be some plays I just do all of them together.  I’ll spin or I’ll try to cut or I’ll try to run you over,” he said. “ Whatever comes to my mind, that’s what I’m going to do because my only goal is to try to reach the end zone.  If I got to crawl, if I got to have five people on my back just to get to it, I’m going to have five people on my back just to get to it.” 

It’s on me

Northside senior wide receiver Josh Cabrera shrugged at the suggestion that his decision to commit to UNC earlier this week takes the pressure off of him heading into his final high school football season. 

“I always put pressure on myself because I feel I have to hold myself accountable for the things that I do.  So I don’t feel like there’s much pressure,” he said. “ I know what I’m capable of and what I can do.  So if I don’t do that, it’s just on me.” 

Kicker search

With last year’s kicker and punter Tyler Lohr having moved, Swansboro coach Tim Laspada is in search of a replacement to give the ball the boot. 

“That’s huge,” Laspada said. 

And he knew just where to turn at Swansboro — soccer coach Doug Kidd. 

“I don’t think it would be too hard in Swansboro to find somebody who can kick a ball,” Laspada said. “ If I can’t, then it’s time for me to get out because we’ve got a soccer team that’s great quality.  Coach Kidd got bombarded today.” 

McConnell commits, but …

Jacksonville senior offensive tackle Nathan McConnell has committed to play football at Elon, but he has an out.  If he receives an offer from an NCAA Division I team, the 6-foot-5, 295-pound McConnell can back off his commitment to Elon, Williams said. 

“Elon said that was fine.  They understand,” Williams said, adding the Burlington university wanted to be McConnell’s choice if he doesn’t get a DI offer. 

Go to the film

After his team’s first scrimmage in his first season as head coach at Richlands, Snider said he expected to make some personnel moves.  He also said he planned to show players who made mistakes film of those errors. 

“You ask a kid and he says, ‘I did it (right).’  No, you didn’t,” Snider said. “ Film don’t lie.”