West Greene football fans got their first chance to see new head coach Caleb Slover’s squad in a competitive environment on Friday night as the Buffaloes suited up for a scrimmage against Unaka.
Those fans should have left The Range optimistic as West Greene’s offense spread the ball around and moved up and down the field with ease while the defense was suffocating at times.
“I think we have taken some strides and come a long way over the past two months,” Slover said. “Two months ago it was questionable whether we could line up and run plays, but these guys did a good job tonight. This is a young football team, but they responded well when things went against us.”
Slover, who was hired in May, came to Mosheim with a reputation for using explosive offenses that throw the ball all over the field. On Friday the Buffaloes showed off that new-look offense as they marched up and down the field on the Rangers.
The two teams alternated between 10-play series on Friday. On West Greene’s first-two 10-play drives it went the length of the field and found the endzone four times. The Buffaloes moved the ball in a variety of ways with screen passes, deep balls down the middle and to the perimeter, and a few runs mixed in. In those first 20 plays seven of them gained 20 or more yards.
For Slover the most important thing he was looking for out of the team’s first scrimmage was growth. The group has had less than two months to learn the new system and on Friday he wanted to test their aptitude against live competition.
“I think the big thing that I wanted to see was our growth from day one, from when we put in the offense to where we are now. I wanted to see how many guys can rotate around and play in different positions. How many guys can be consistent,” Slover said.
Running the show was first-year quarterback Aiden Thompson who completed his first six passes on Friday, and finished 7-for-9 overall. Slover felt like it was his best day yet, and the coach knows that his quarterback’s growth will play an important role in determining his team’s success this year.
“Aiden Thompson did a really good job tonight,” Slover said. “That is the best he has looked all summer. He’s growing every day. And if we can get the ball to the edge I feel like we have some guys that make some plays on the outside.”
Defensively the Buffaloes first unit was equally impressive and on Unaka’s first possession the Rangers were held to one play that gained positive yardage.
“We have some guys that are flying around and making plays on defense. We have guys that like to hit. We just need to be a little bit more sound, we have to make sure we are filling the right holes every time,” Slover said.
The regular season is now three weeks away and the Buffaloes will open up play by hosting Cosby on August 21. Before that happens West Greene’s primary focus will be building depth.
“We repped a whole lot of guys today and we want to play as many guys as we can,” Slover said. “We need to know who that second, third and fourth guy is and we have to get them up to speed. We need to get more guys ready to give us quality snaps and build some depth.”
