The four area public schools got their fall practices kicked off last week.
All four teams went the week in just helmets, per restrictions from the Mississippi High School Activities Association.
Here’s a look at the four squads from the Newton County Appeal’s coverage area.
Union
The Yellowjackets completed their first week of fall practice and coach Jordan Wren said he was pleased with what he saw.
“I thought it was a very fluent week,” Wren said. “We had a nice, light 62-play scrimmage on Thursday with no pads. We just turned it into a summer practice and got some special teams in. I thought the execution was a lot better than it had been. But that comes because of practicing after school. You can spend more time on things and teach more individual groups and then you get to see that carry over in the team work.”
Wren said he saw a lot of positive things, especially from his quarterback, Myilan Moore.
“I saw a lot of things that I have been waiting on to see,” Wren said. “We converted over 50 percent of our third downs. That’s a positive because our defense is pretty good. But it’s tough breaking in a new quarterback, especially when I wasn’t prepared to break him in as soon as we had to. But he’s getting better every week. We lost 7,600 yards of offense from last year. That’s what we are replacing so I don’t care what level you are coaching, that’s a lot to replace and you are going to find yourself in some frustrating situations.”
Newton County
Veteran coach Bobby Bass said his team got a lot accomplished but he’s ready to put the pads on this week.
“It was pretty monotonous this week,” Bass said. “You couldn’t put pads on so we basically had another week of summer practice. It was helmets and shorts all week which is what we did. Next week we will put on the pads and practice some real football and see where we are at.”
Despite not having on pads, Bass said the Cougars did get some things accomplished.
“We basically got in all of our special teams installed and have all of our defense installed,” Bass said. “The offense still has a little bit to put in but the base run game is in. It was a good installation week so we will get to do it live this coming week and see how much a difference it will make with pads on.”
Bass said the Cougars will go all five days this week and then prepare for a jamboree against Lake on Aug. 23.
“We will get five days in pads this week so we won’t scrimmage on Saturday like we normally do,” Bass said. “They will probably need a break by Saturday. We will work on our run game a good bit this week and shore some things up. We will work on real tackling. It’s real when you put the pads on and we need to see how some guys are going to play with the pads on.”
Newton
The Tigers continue to prepare for the upcoming season under first-year coach Jeffrey Crosby.
Crosby said he sees his teams progressing every practice.
“I think we are progressing in the right direction,” Crosby said. “We have some younger guys and some of them are playing football for the first time. They are starting to grasp the fundamentals of football. I enjoyed seeing those younger players start to grow and understand their jobs as football players, especially the ones who are playing football for the first time.”
Crosby said he will be glad to put the pads on this week and do a little hitting to see where the Tigers are at on defense.
“Defensively, we get pads on this week and will see what that looks like,” Crosby said. “We are grasping the concepts of what we are supposed to be doing. But you have to put the pads on to see what you’ve really got on defense. But overall, I think it’s going well. We will do some tackling circuits this week and have a little bumping and get used to some contact.”
Crosby said Newton will have Meet the Tigers on Friday at E.L. Morgan Field. The Tigers will play in a jamboree on Aug. 23 at Perry Central where they will play the Bulldogs and Moss Point. Newton opens the season on the road on Aug. 30 against Lanier.
Lake
Veteran Lake coach Tate Hanna said the Hornets had one of the best weeks of practice he has had in several years.
“I thought we had a very good week,” Hanna said. “Actually, it was one of the best we have had in a long time. We had to deal with the heat but the attitude and effort was very good. I thought we got a to accomplished and are figuring out where everybody fits in.”
Hanna said the offense is where the Hornets were midway through the season last year.
“I thought we got a lot don on offense,” Hanna said. “We went over everything we did last year but we were halfway through the season last year compared to where we are this year. The kids are a lot more advanced. We were two deep at every position on offense and able to run a lot on air with both teams and I was proud of that.”
Hanna said the Hornets will switch to defense this week as the don the pads for the first time.
“We just want to bang around a little bit and go ahead and hit a little bit and get the soreness out,” Hanna said. “We will do a lot of individual stuff and will probably add a little more defense this week since we have on shoulder pads.”
Lake will host Meet the Hornets on Thursday at 6 p.m. this week and will host Newton County on Friday in a jamboree.
