Takeaways from Westview’s first scrimmage

It has been almost eight months since Westview has gotten to put pads on and hit someone other than themselves in live game action. On Friday, the Chargers lined up across the ball from Huntingdon in their first scrimmage of the preseason.

After Huntingdon scored on their opening possession, Westview would go on to find the endzone four times before the Mustangs could regather some momentum. After a long ball to CD Damron, Graham Simpson completed a short pass to Donteze Joy that would be taken 40 yards to the endzone after breaking four tackles just beyond the line of scrimmage. 

Westview would get the ball back quickly and Asa Barnes found the endzone for the first of his four touchdown runs on the following possession. Barnes would touch on what he saw in the backfield after a productive day, “I was seeing big holes and after that, make one miss and then make a play.” The defense then decided to join in on the scoring fun when Finn Snider read a pass perfectly to pick it off and take it in for six. 

The fast start was quickly halted by some missed opportunities on the offensive side of the ball, and Huntingdon started to wear down the Charger defense with the ground and pound offense that the Mustangs like to run. The final “score” in the scrimmage would be 42-35, but Charger head coach Matt McConnell wouldn’t be too pleased with how his team handled physicality. “Didn’t think we were very physical, didn’t think we played the way we were capable of playing. That’s 100% my fault… and we’ll have it fixed by next Friday,” said McConnell regarding his team’s play. 

Overall, the Chargers still have the explosiveness that was put on display last year. Mistakes were made, but that is to be expected by any and every team in their first scrimmage. Westview will be at Crockett County on Friday August 8 to take on the Cavaliers in one last scrimmage before their jamboree.