SUMMERVILLE — The Chattooga Indians may have felt a little nervous in the first half of their preseason scrimmage against Northwest Whitfield Friday night.
But when it came time to come out for the second half, they found the courage they were looking for in the balance of quick attacks and quick legs to outscore the 7-AAAA Bruins 27-25 at Little Big Horn.
Chattooga, in Region 7-AA North, got off to a shaky start with a few mistakes and penalties spoiling its chances to halt Northwest.
Chattooga’s lone touchdown before the break came in the first quarter after Northwest was forced to punt following a devastating sack by Greg Shropshire.
Starting on their own 46, the Indians steadily drove the ball to the 11 when sophomore Senorise Perry cut back past two tackles and ran the ball into the end zone with 1:08 to go in the period.
The extra point by Bernardo Mosqueda was good but an illegal block in the back by Chattooga forced a re-kick from the 20 that bounced
Chattooga running back David Covington battles for extra yards during the Indians’ preseason scrimmage Friday night against Northwest Whitfield. Ken Caruthers, Rome News-Tribune. off the right post and held the Indians behind 7-6.
“From a defensive side, I thought we were a little bashful in the first half,” Indians’ assistant head coach Bobby Beckett said. “In the second half, we got a little more out of our defensive ends and David Covington and Dante Stewart.”
Head coach John Starr was unavailable for comment after the scrimmage as he checked on his nephew, junior running back Charlie Starr, who was injured in the game.
Covington helped spark the turnaround for Indians as he sacked the Bruins’ quarterback in their second series of the third quarter to start a backward march for Northwest that ended with a high snap and Chattooga taking over on their opponent’s 10-yard line.
Perry continued to find his way through the Bruins’ defense in the second half, scoring on runs of 13 and 11 yards.
Running back Fabian Brown took off in the fourth quarter, running 49 yards in a single drive to cap it off with an 11-yard touchdown run that saw the running back weave back and forth to find daylight.
“I thought our offense in the second half blocked exceptionally well,” Beckett said. “I think our line was slow at the start of the preseason but they have made a move in the last week and a half and I think they are on the way to being a real good offensive line.”
Chattooga will open the regular season on the road when the Indians visit the Darlington Tigers at Chris Hunter Stadium on Aug. 31.
Post a Comment
We publish an annual Resident’s Guide for each of our communities. It’s a tremendous source of local information – containing lists of services, names of organizations, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and much more. Keep it handy; use it often. You can find information from the Resident’s Guide here, or order a copy of the publication from our Circulation Department by calling (952) 345-6682 or e-mailing circulation@swpub.com.
Southwest Newspapers’ weekly community papers have histories that go as far back as the Civil War era. Several were started from scratch as our communities began to grow in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. These popular newspapers routinely win awards of excellence from organizations like the Minnesota Newspaper Association.