By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
Considering it was a preseason scrimmage, El Dorado's Purple-White Game drew a regular-season-sized crowd Friday. Almost the entire home side of Memorial Stadium was filled with fans, who were introduced to the teams, coaches and cheerleaders from grades 7-12.
Barton's 7th grade, 8th grade, El Dorado's freshmen and then the varsity Wildcats treated the crowd to lively scrimmages.
"This was an awesome crowd," said El Dorado coach Scott Reed. "There's a lot of buzz, right now about our team, too, which is awesome. I think people are hearing about how we're ranked a little higher than we have been lately in the preseason. I think there's a little buzz around town about Wildcat football, having a good group and I think we do. I'm pleased with what I saw tonight."
El Dorado's varsity scrimmage had positive moments on both sides of the ball. It ended with Taliq Ellis making a nifty diving catch in the end zone on a pass from Darius Holly. The scrimmage began with Keshun Greene making a leaping catch in traffic to convert a third down. Ellis also turned a short pass into a long gainer.
For the reserves, Devante Yarbrough lit up the crowd with a 99-yard scamper.
"It was more game-like than usual for a Purple-White Game," said Reed. "I thought Darius threw the ball really well. I was really pleased with his decision-making. Alex (Hicks) made some good plays with his feet. He's getting better in the pass game. He's getting more comfortable. I thought both of them did some good things at times.
"In the middle, I thought our defense took over, which was really good to see. I thought that was the best we had done, collectively, defensively. And, it wasn't just one series. It was a number of series in a row where they got the offense off the field, made the plays they needed to make. It looked like they settled down.
"At the end, I thought it was really competitive. Both sides kind of cranked it up, which is good when you're a little tired."
There were some turnovers but those came, primarily, with the junior varsity players.
"The young group had way too many turnovers. That's been an issue with them. We've got to get a lot better as far as taking care of the ball with the young ones," said Reed. "I don't know that we had a turnover with the older group. Honestly, I didn't think our secondary play was poor. I mean, there were some good hits. There were some guys getting after it."
El Dorado's backs ran hard, including power back Jarius Curry. But, running lanes were few.
"I was pleased with the work up front. The other day we had a scrimmage and the offense ran the ball better than I would've expected. I thought tonight the defense was much better against the run," said Reed, who noted the big plays offensively.
"And then you saw, we have some guys who can go make plays in space. We have some weapons that have developed and we're starting to see some good things there. That ball at the end, Taliq just went out of nowhere to go get it. I thought Shun (Levingston) had a burst there on a run. We've got to get him more involved in the pass game.
"I don't think we had an injury. I know Mon-Trae (Marshall) kind of banged his elbow but he was back and fine. I'm really pleased. I'm pleased with where we are, pleased with how far we've come in three weeks. I think that's a good thing."
Overall, Reed felt it was a good night to be a Wildcat. The eighth grade class, in particular, had fans buzzing when it left the field, as did the freshmen.
"They both showed some good things tonight. Kids were running and making some big plays and some hitting, too. There's a lot good in our program, right now," Reed said. "We have a lot of good kids. I think our coaches are doing a good job all the way up. I thought it was well organized with our eighth and ninth grades. They had it scripted and got their kids work and I thought it was quality work. You didn't see the ball on the ground all the time. I thought it was pretty clean. I'm very proud of them."