The football season has arrived.
St. Vincent took part in a four-team jamboree with East Prairie, Portageville, and Kelly at St. Vincent Field Friday. For coach Tim Schumer he is glad to be back on the field.
“We finally get to play somebody else, instead of beating up on each other like in practice,” he said. “The number one thing you want to do is stay healthy and come out of these with no injuries. We did that.”
The other purpose of the jamboree for Schumer is making sure his team matches the physicality of varsity football.
“You want to see that carry over from practice,” Schumer said. “Being a smaller school, in practice our varsity is playing the JV and they play at two different speeds. I thought we were very physical and our team speed was fine. There are definitely things we need to work on, but overall I thought we played well.”
The main event of the night for St. Vincent was most likely the matchup with Portageville. The Bulldogs won their district last year and went 10-3 and bring back running back Jamarion Smith who ran for more than 2,300 yards and 33 touchdowns last season.
Smith did score a touchdown, but Schumer was happy with how his team played against the Bulldogs.
“We tackled him a little high a few times, but overall I thought our team pursuit on defense was excellent,” Schumer said. “He’s a load to bring down.
Schumer was also happy with the way his offense performed especially after quarterback Christian Schaaf threw an interception, he came right back and found Clayton Gremaud for a score a few plays later.
“You like to see him come back and not be rattled by things like that,” Schumer said.
Other than the senior QB, Schumer liked how his offensive line performed on the night.
Perryville performs well
Perryville football coach Brent Roth couldn’t be happier with the way his team looked in its first action of the season. The Pirates traveled to St. Pius for a four-team jamboree featuring the host Lancers, Crystal City and Lutheran South.
“We moved the ball on offense and the defense was flying around hitting people,” Roth said. “You get the chance to hit some other teams. It’s nice to use these scrimmages as a measuring stick.”
Perryville scored once against St. Pius and another time against Crystal City, and the Lancers returned the favor with a long touchdown on their own. The other teams did not score.
Roth noted that quarterback Rilyand Graham played well under center for the Pirates Friday night.
“He has corrected a lot of the things he struggled with last year as far as staying in the pocket and stepping up to avoid defenders and setting his feet,” Roth said. “The passing game was working really well.”
Roth was also happy that a large majority of the plays in the running game was positive yards.
“that’s one of our things we have stressed this summer. We want to have all of our plays going forward and not losing yards,” Roth said.
Perryville will take on Oakville in Week 1.
