News-Times Staff
PARKERS CHAPEL - The defenses reigned supreme on Friday in Parkers Chapel’s annual Blue & White Game, as the White shut out the Blue 6-0.
Canon Morgan’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Amonta Harris in the first half were the lone points of the game, although the White had to survive a late rally to hold on.
“I think it showed that we had the teams evenly split,” said Parkers Chapel coach Jacob Midyett. “Neither one was able to get a whole lot going on offense, and a lot of that was because we had starters split across both teams. I was happy with it. They competed. They fought hard. We had a pretty good turnout crowd-wise, and that’s what the Blue & White Game is all about. It’s good to see kids in different roles, and we got a lot of good work out of it.”
Using a format of an eight-minute running clock for four quarters, the Blue team just missed tying the game in the final minute of the contest, but Hunter Palculict was ruled out of bounds in the end zone after hauling in a pass from Caleb Jacobs.
“He just couldn’t get his foot down,” Midyett said of the play. “It was just barely out of bounds. We didn’t have an official crew here. We just had coaches standing back there, and they swear that he got his foot down, but it looked like he was just out of bounds.”
Midyett added that there were several standouts on both sides of the ball.
“It was a good game, and I think we got better,” Midyett said. “We saw some very good things. I thought the Blue team’s running backs ran the ball well. Ryan Simpson and Kori Morris both showed they’re going to push Amonta for playing time.”
On defense, Midyett was pleased with the play of Brendan Winchester and Reece Griffin at inside linebacker along with Harris at outside linebacker.
Morgan was singled out for making a couple of plays from his safety spot, while Palculict, Austin Massey, Dequa Henderson and Michael Brotherton all played well at cornerback.
Jacoby Edwards, a newcomer to the squad, also has played well.
“He’s stepping up and filling holes,” Midyett said of Edwards.
The Trojans have a quick turnaround, as their scrimmage against Smackover is scheduled for Tuesday night.
“I think at this point, every team is still trying to get in shape and making sure you can play four quarters,” Midyett said. “Part of that is making sure our second-string guys are just as ready as the first-string, that way, we’re able to rotate guys in and out. One thing that we’ve really been happy to see so far is our offensive line and defensive line are all different people right now. That’s going to be big for us.”
The hot weather that normally is associated with the month of August returned this week, and Midyett thought his team handled it well.
“If you would’ve asked me a week ago, I never would’ve said this, but the hottest day was Tuesday, and that was far and away our best practice that we’ve had,” Midyett said. “We didn’t have a bad practice on Monday, but you could tell it was dragging on them.
“But towards the end of that practice, one of the coaches kind of kickstarted it, and it really carried over to the next day. They didn’t think about the heat, they didn’t care about the heat, they just got their work done. It was probably one of our more physical practices. We got a ton out of it.”
Next up for the Trojans is the aforementioned scrimmage with the Bucks, and Midyett said his team is looking forward to it.
“We’re very excited,” Midyett said. “We know Smackover is going to have a really good team, so it’s really going to be a good measuring stick for us. I think it will be big for us as far as finding our identity. I think it will be a really good thing to see those guys compete against somebody other than each other. I know they’re excited, and we’re excited to see it.”