By John R. Schirmer
News-Leader staff
With the football season set to kickoff in nine days, the Nashville Scrappers will travel to Southern Arkansas University Thursday, Aug. 24, for a scrimmage against El Dorado. The scrimmage will begin at 6 p.m. at Wilkins Stadium.
Last Friday, the Scrapper Booster Club held the annual Back-to-School Bash at Scrapper Stadium. Junior and senior high football players, band members and cheerleaders were introduced during the Bash.
Both football teams scrimmaged to give fans an early look at the season ahead.
“We had a pretty successful night,” Coach Mike Volarvich said. “I’m happy with the turnout. The crowd made a good showing. It’s always exciting to get the first look at some semi-real action in front of a crowd. Some of the younger guys had some jitters.”
The junior high team scrimmaged against the high school JV, followed by the high school scrimmage.
“Our guys got in some good quality work,” Volarvich said. “Nobody was injured. You want to come out of this healthy.”
Volarvich said the coaches “got what we wanted. There were a couple of scores for the offense. There were some good stops on defense and a couple of turnovers. We wanted a little parity. You don’t want the offense or defense to overpower the other side.”
The Scrappers were “pretty base on offense and defense. We let the kids play,” Volarvich said.
Ryan Brown and Chris Waldrop “played on JV and the varsity scrimmage. They got a lot of snaps.”
Bug Morrison “stood out. He popped a little bit.”
Jamarte Gillam returned an interception for a touchdown. “He’s very athletic. He’s back playing after being out last year. We’re excited to see what he can develop into,” Volarvich said.
Isaac Johnson and Lance Easter are “two sophomores who continue to show up every day. They make really good plays.”
Garrett Lance “showed up again. He’s very consistent. He shows up every time.”
The Scrappers have “a short week, a three-day turnaround” as they prepare for El Dorado. They practiced Monday and Tuesday and will have a light workout today (Wednesday).
“El Dorado is schematically different. We’ll have to transition into what they do and be in the right place,” Volarvich said.
