2019 Scrimmage: Spur, Crowell, Valley, Petersburg

By Bobbie Brown
 
Finally Friday! I know you all were probably thinking the same thing! Spur, Texas and Jones Stadium called my name. Boy, was it hot! I arrived at 6:00PM and parked at the bottom of the hill and walked up into the stadium. Spur has a very unique stadium in that it is built into the side of a large hill. The bleachers are enormous cement blocks that span the length of the football field. A lot of folks had assembled in the stands and were very near the top. If a person makes the trek down the stairs (it’s a LONG way), then the very steep stairs present a challenge to get back to the vehicle.
 
The JV teams had just started. I grabbed my camera and went to work. Except it’s not really work because I enjoy it so much! Crowell and Spur were playing on one half of the field and Valley and Petersburg were on the other half. And for the second day in a row, there were some big ol’ boys on each of the JV squads!
 
A storm was brewing to the South and it broiled for as long as the JV teams were on the field. Between the JV and Varsity games, there was a 30-minute lightning delay. There was also a large wave of smoke that settled around the field. A fire had started in an alley in town. Spur Volunteer Fire Department finally got the blaze under control and the smoke finally lifted about the time the Varsity teams took the field. The storm had decided to head East but did provide shade against the blazing sun.
 
Spur Bulldogs. Wow. They are fast. They like to hit – much more so than last year. I saw some really good things from the Bulldogs. Very impressed. A bit surprised. I knew they had it in them but didn’t know if they’d pull it together. I was hoping they would, and Coach Clark has got them in really good shape! They have a few things to work on, but I have no doubt they will get it done. Ethan Parsons is healthy, as are the twins and their QB Franny. One kid on the sidelines stood out. A portion of his back pad was a 100-dollar bill picture. Le’Zhane Walker is his name. Spur faces White Deer at the Jayton Gridiron first rattle out of the box. That will be an enormous test but look out for the Bulldogs as the season progresses. They are going to surprise a lot of folks.
 
Valley Patriots. John Stanaland took the helm for the Patriots. They have 30 players out this year. Parker Carson is back with a vengeance. He is surrounded by a few players I didn’t recognize from last year’s team. The Patriots looked a little sluggish out of the box but quickly recovered. Their passing game is ON POINT… already! Those boys can throw and catch. And they are doing it well early on. Valley defense… head hunters. Good, strong tackles that were on target the majority of the time. I look for the Patriots to follow Coach Stanaland’s lead and become more and more aggressive this season.
 
Crowell Wildcats. Completely different team from last year. They look and play bigger. They laid some pretty good hits on the other teams throughout the scrimmage. On offense, Jamal Lane lit it up! He had some good blockers up front who helped him get down the field quickly. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Coach Barrera… I couldn’t catch him. He was all over the place coaching the Wildcats like a wild man! Crowell may not be back to State Championship form yet, but they are headed in the right direction!
 
Petersburg Buffaloes. Coach Solis has done a great job with these boys. Last year when I watched them play Nazareth in their last district game (that game was COLD), I noticed a freshman Buff named Kaden Parraz. He was extremely quick and fast, and I looked for him at the scrimmage. I almost didn’t recognize him! He had grown and put on a lot of muscle. Larry Martinez (Six-man Magazine) pointed him out and told me he had worked really hard this summer and handled many bales of hay – yep, that’ll do it! In the scrimmage, he was as fast or faster than last year, but he was able to go over people and not just around them. He had several big blockers and followed them well. I look for the Buffaloes to be solid this year.
 
Good luck to the Bulldogs, Wildcats, Patriots, and Buffaloes. You all gave great effort and looked good yesterday. Keep working. Don’t rest on your laurels. The season starts in less than two weeks!
 
So everyone should have sloughed off the Six-man football withdrawals with the first scrimmages. Or I hope you found time to get rid of them. Mine have been around for months, and I was glad to see them go! One more week of scrimmages and then it’s GAME TIME! Don’t know about you, but I can’t wait!
 
Until then… Go Forward and Do GOOD!

Quote of the scrimmage (from a ref):
"Do like the college guys. If you push up when marking the ball, you look better!"