The North Greene football team got its first taste of live action on Friday as Claiborne came to the Tundra for the first scrimmage of the fall.
The Huskies got everybody plenty of reps on Friday and coach Eric Tilson came away with things his squad will need to focus on in practice, but also plenty of things that have him excited about the upcoming season.
“It looked like a first scrimmage, there were a lot of mistakes but there were a lot good things as well,” Tilson said. “It was an opportunity to see who is going to make plays when we lineup against a new opponent. We saw a lot of young guys go out and make plays tonight, and we saw some of our older guys execute the way they are supposed to.”
One area Tilson was particularly pleased with on Friday was along the line of scrimmage. The Huskies return a veteran group up front who Tilson expects to lead the way in 2025. The Bulldogs brought a big and physical front seven to the Tundra, but the Huskies were able to hold their blocks and keep the offense moving.
“With our first group in we were able to control things up front against a big Class 3A team, and I was pretty pleased with that,” Tilson said. “Claiborne was a lot bigger than what we see on a typical basis, but it was good to see our physicality tested. To see our front get them moving made me really happy. We had some starters outs and had backups come in and get some varsity reps, and that will be very valuable for us.”
The Huskies’ line led the way for a new look run game on Friday that lined up both Leon Johnson and Brayden Weems in the backfield. Weems was able to cross the goal line first on Friday when he took a pitch on a triple option and raced 48 yards for a touchdown.
With the running threat from quarterback Thomas Darnell added to the mix Tilson expects the option to be a big part of what his offense does this season.
“I’ll like to see what the run game looks like once we let the run quarterback loose. I like our backs, I like Leon (Johnson) and Brayden (Weems) in the backfield together. That gives us a lot of different options with three backs going different directions,” Tilson said. “That has the defense’s eyes all over the place. Plus we’re pulling too. We still have some things to work on with that option, you saw the fumble on a pitch, but we also broke a big one. That option can be a pretty big part of our identity, but we have some kinks to work out.”
The Huskies also made some big plays in the passing with Matthew Boyd catching a long crossing route and Brandon Weems going 70 yards on a screen.
On defense North Greene rotated heavily and Tilson came impressed with how his young guys handled their first test.
“Defensively we are starting to build depth. We have a lot of young guys that showed some good things on defense,” Tilson said. “We are trying to limit some of our older guys’ reps right now in our scrimmages, but that gives some of those young guys opportunities. It was really good see guys like Turner Collins and Levi Gray make some really big defensive plays.”
Next up for the Huskies will be a scrimmage on August 8 at Sullivan East. Tilson is hopeful that his squad learns from their mistakes against Claiborne, and as they continue toward the regular season that they will be poised to improve on last year’s historic season.
“We talk about being relentless, and that has been our motto going into fall camp. I didn’t have to say anything about effort today. That is what you want to see in a first scrimmage,” Tilson said. “Once the pads go on you get to see what guys are made of, and we are starting to see that. We expect to see a lot growth from the first scrimmage to the second scrimmage, and we’ll go to Sullivan East next week looking to see improvement.”
