Time to get physical: Beavers ready to break out the pads

By Rod Haxton, editor

After three days of practices without pads, Scott Community High School players and coaches are anxious for Thursday to arrive when they can wear pads for the first time.
That means the first day of contact drills for the players and a chance for coaches to see who is ready to get physical.
“It’s like starting all over again,” says third year head coach Glenn O’Neil about the first day with pads.
“It’s a step up because of the excitement level. But it can also be a step back because you’re thinking more about actually blocking and tackling and not so much what your technique should look like.”
Hopefully, blending the physical play and technique is a short transition.
After what he considered a disappointing season opening practice on Monday morning, O’Neil has been pleased with the way the nearly 60-player roster has continued to improve during their next five practice sessions.
Because of the unusually wet and cool days, the morning sessions have primarily been devoted to conditioning and fundamentals, “where ball handling isn’t that critical.” The afternoons are evenly divided between offensive and defensive drills.
“It’s tough without pads. Not so much for linebackers and secondary because the main focus for them is coverage and reads,” says O’Neil. “We can work with the offensive and defensive linemen on technique, but it’s a whole different game when they have to actually start making blocks and shedding blockers.”

An Inexperienced Line
While no aspect of the game is overlooked by the SCHS coaching staff, there’s little doubt the offensive line is getting a lot of attention.
Senior center Jake Drohman (5-11, 212) is the only returning starter. However, the right side of the line does include some varsity experience with sophomore guard Michael McEachern (5-10, 250), junior tackle Dylan Ellis (6-0, 235) and junior tight end Luke Hayes (6-4, 225).
“This is one of the bigger lines we’ve had on the offensive side for quite awhile,” says O’Neil.
Bringing a little less experience on the left side of the ball are junior Matt Zilla (5-8, 185) who is making the transition from runningback, and junior Jesse Eitel (6-0, 210).
Also challenging for time at the varsity level are junior Dakota Farr (5-10, 195) and sophomore Sean Tuttle (5-9, 210).
“Dakota and Shawn had a combo block (Wednesday) morning and their technique was perfect,” O’Neil says. “Even though we’re a little green, these boys base block well and they’re physical. What I want to see from our linemen is a little attitude when they’re on the field. How nasty do they want to get? Hopefully we’ll begin seeing that when they put the pads on.”

Skilled Positions
There have been no big surprises at the skilled positions, led by quarterback Ron Baker who brings a strong throwing arm to complement the team’s speed in the backfield.
Competition is intense for the wide receiver positions.
“If you drop two passes in practice there’s a chance you’ll slip in our depth chart,” says O’Neil. “We’re excited about what we’re seeing. We can really upgrade our passing game this year.”
Scott City is loaded with speed among their backs and receivers, in addition to the secondary. And they have enough depth they can match speed-on-speed on both sides of the ball.
“With the speed we have, our receivers will have to run good routes and our secondary can’t afford to give too much cushion and still hope to make a play,” O’Neil adds. “This is going to make everyone work harder in practice which will carry over to how well we play in a game.”

Saturday Scrimmage
The Beavers will get a taste of their first scrimmage on Sat., Aug. 21, starting at 10:00 a.m.
“It will be a chance for us to evaluate where the boys are in terms of knowing their assignments and who’s ahead of who with the mental part of the game,” O’Neil says.
He says it provides some gauge of where boys are on the depth chart.
“And we’ll be able to show the boys on film what needs to be corrected and adjusted,” adds the SCHS coach.
The annual Blue and White scrimmage will be held as part of the annual Back-to-School Bash on Aug. 27.