Published: August 17, 2008 01:46 am            

Day of defense

New Green Swarm holds offense to four first downs

The last thing Brodrick Hadnot wanted to hear was the long whistle that signaled the end of Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage.

Hadnot and his teammates on the defensive side of the ball were having a big time, meeting at the quarterback and dishing out hits that could be heard all over Huntsville.

“We were having a little bit too much fun to quit,” the junior linebacker said after a brief team meeting with head coach Mitchell Coey on the practice field at Huntsville High School. “We all wanted to keep going.”

The players who were delivering the bone-crunching hits wanted to continue for obvious reasons. The guys who had been taking those licks were hoping to keep the scrimmage going so they could make a better showing.

“We just weren’t communicating and finishing plays,” Huntsville’s starting quarterback, junior Justin Gilbert, said. “We’d make one play, then get upset after the next play busted.”

Coey told the Hornets they now know exactly what they need to work on before squaring off with Conroe on Friday in a 7 p.m. scrimmage at Moorhead Stadium. After moving the first-down chains only four times in 40 plays Saturday, Coey said his offense must start making improvements starting the moment the team hits the field Monday afternoon.

“Our offensive line has got to work as a unit,” Coey said following Saturday’s hourlong scrimmage. “We had some good plays out of some individuals, but we’ve got to find five linemen who will work together out there.

“At this time, defense is usually ahead of the offense. I thought our defensive guys flew around to the football today. They swarmed to the ball and a lot of guys made some big plays. Our defensive line is a force to be reckoned with. Those guys are tough to block.”

Coey said he saw guys like Kirby Ennis, Adam Ayala, Shaquille Ross, James Davidson and Hadnot all making big plays defensively.

“All of those guys did well, but the list keeps going on and on for our defense,” the coach boasted. “We got an indication today that our defense is going to be pretty tough.”

The Hornets took a quick look at four different quarterbacks and a number of different running backs Saturday. Gilbert, George Perry, Lonny Lipscomb and Mark Wheeler all ran Huntsville’s offense for 10 plays, and each moved the chain one time.

“Against Conroe, Gilbert will get a little more work. We know what he can do so we didn’t need to put him out there too much today,” Coey said. “George threw the ball well. He didn’t panic today even when the defense put some heavy pressure on him. I also was impressed with Wheeler. He’s not at all intimidated even though he’s just a sophomore. He comes to play the game. We’ll continue to evaluate him and see if he can help us.”

Gilbert promised a quick fix before the Hornets clash with Conroe.

“This time next week against Conroe,” he said, “we should put up a lot of points.”

Hadnot said the Hornets’ offense won’t be alone in the end zone.

“We should score some on defense, too,” Hadnot boasted.

Huntsville’s running game never got going Saturday. Coey said the effort was there from several backs, but there simply was no room to run.

“A few of our running backs really ran hard — guys like Shaq (Ross), Lonny Lipscomb, (Kevin) Butcher and (Joseph) Maxey,” the coach said. “They were trying to make something out of nothing. We’ve just got to get better up front and start making some holes for those guys.”

Coey said the Hornets can feel good about the way they played defense Saturday. After only five days of practice, most of the players saw some action on the defensive side of the ball. Coey and the players were pleased with the Hornets’ progress after taking a crash course on their new 4-2-5 defensive scheme.

“We’re playing with a lot of emotion,” senior linebacker Marcus Williams said. “Good defenses play with a lot of emotion. This year we’re going to take pride in what we do. We’re starting to show signs of how good we can be, and we’re going to get even better when the games start. That atmosphere, with the lights and the band, that’s when we’ll really start getting after it.”

        

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