A passing fancy
Local football teams compete in 7-on-7 scrimmageBy Joe Davis, jdavis@mariettatimes.com
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Most, if not all, of the unanswered questions remained so for area football teams that participated in the first of five weekly sessions of the Mid-Ohio Valley Passing Summer League Thursday evening at Don Drumm Stadium.
After all, it's only early July.
Yet, there were many positives to pull out of the 7-on-7 scrimmage.
Caldwell, a Division VI playoff qualifier in Mike DeVol's return to the Redskin sideline last fall, struck twice on one series against Marietta's defense with Dylan Sayre connecting with Seth Todd on a 31-yard pass play and Tyler Schockling delivering a 33-yard aerial to Adam Rossiter on a fly route down the right sideline only four plays later.
Sayre and Schockling, both juniors, are competing along with sophomore Jensen Croucher for the starting quarterback position manned by Travis Mettler at Caldwell last season.
Earlier, on Marietta's initial offensive series, sophomore QB Matt McKitrick hit senior split end Tyler Davis on a slant route with Davis negotiating his way into the end zone on a 32-yard scoring play. McKitrick later picked up another point with Austin Terry making a nice diving catch but coming up short of the end zone.
"We're just looking at a lot of kids," Marietta head coach Andy Schob said. "We had two completely different groups on offense which we rotated in every other play, while on defensively, on every five. I like our depth right now. We kind of wanted to get some kids some experience and see what they could do under pressure.
"Our quarterbacks have made some good strides but we have work to do, obviously."
McKitrick split snaps with junior Morgan Wynn, while senior Lance Weppler was limited to playing defense in order to not aggravate an injury to his right shoulder suffered Thursday morning. The three are competing to be the replacement for Cody Westbrook, who threw for over 2,300 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.
With Weppler being converted from fullback to quarterback, Marietta's offense will likely be more run-oriented, Schob said, which will ultimately help set up a passing game. Mainstay senior running back Perry Wheeler and junior Conner Hess also should prove to be elusive or at least hard to bring down.
"Our inexperienced quarterbacks like to force the ball to Billy (Grizer) because they know Billy will get it. We have to break that habit a little bit," Schob said. "I thought our kids did a good job for our first 7-on-7. We have a little work to do, obviously."
DeVol came up with the idea to stage a series of 7-on-7 sessions at Don Drumm Stadium on Thursdays throughout July and enlisted Schob along with Parkersburg South's Jon Bolen, who brought two teams into the fray, and Frontier's Todd Bradford.
"We're doing this to promote the Mid-Ohio Valley," DeVol said. "This is one the greatest areas in the state, both in Ohio and West Virginia, and we needed to make sure the rest of the state or states know it."
The scrimmage series, ideally, will also foster camaraderie among players from the participating schools. "I don't want these guys to think this is really hot-and-heavy competition," DeVol said in going over the ground rules with the officials. "It's something we're doing because it's fun."
Schob would like to see more teams participate in the future.
"We need to build this area up and get some excitement going and give them some work," he said. "It's a good thing. It's kind of centrally located in Marietta with all the teams around here, so it kind of works out good."
Parkersburg South's varsity unit was the most efficient with senior quarterback Cody Swearingen connecting with Michael Molinari, Garret Foggin and Hunter Barton, twice. Molinari also tossed a 40-yard halfback pass to Barton for another score against an overmatched Warren defense.
Earlier, Warren's senior QB Clay Ellenwood found senior split end Kyle Pritt for a short TD strike.
"It's good any time you get a ball in the kids' hands," Bolen said.
The Patriots recently participated in a 7-on-7 tournament at West Virginia University and finished fourth in a 44-team field. Last fall, South went 8-2 in qualifying for the W.Va. Class AAA playoffs but lost Bridgeport in the first round. The Patriots featured the No. 1 rushing offense in the Mountain State with both Hunter Ferguson and Chanz Jarrell rushing for over 1,000 yards.
On the adjoining practice field, Pioneer Valley Conference rivals Caldwell and Frontier squared off. Junior QB Corey Fickiesen displayed some added arm strength as he went deep to junior split end Levi Zartman and senior Reid Tilton for Cougars scores during one series.
"Corey's been in the weight room and he's made progress," Bradford said.
Frontier, which went 2-8 last season, should be deeper with the addition of seniors Brandan Murphy and Troy Carpenter.
"That's the Justin Ross affect," Frontier assistant coach Eric Reed said. "They saw Ross do good last year after not having before and said, 'I can do that.' "
Subsequent 7-on-7 scrimmages are planned at Don Drumm Stadium July 9, July 16, July 24 and July 30. A golf outing for coaches and officials is planned for August 2, the day before the first official practice.
