JEFFERSON CITY – The high school football regular season is less than a month away and South Greene spent Wednesday afternoon working on its passing game at Carson-Newman University’s FCA Camp.
The Rebels took on Morristown West, Hardin Valley and Cherokee in 7-on-7 scrimmages.
“We haven’t done a lot of 7-on-7s this offseason because we knew we would get that opportunity here. We’re out here working hard against some bigger schools, and it’s going good,” South Greene coach Shawn Jones said. “The big thing we want to work on here is our timing. We’re going to run the football a lot this year, but we know that when we do throw it, we have to complete it.”
The most noticeable new look for the Rebels on Wednesday was behind center where Nash Rader was receiving snaps at quarterback. Rader, an All-County running back a year ago, has transitioned nicely to the new role and Jones is expecting big things from him this year.
“Nash is doing a good job. He played there as a freshman and he played quarterback in middle school, so he already knew what to do,” Jones said. “About halfway through last year he came to us and told us that he thought he should move back to quarterback next year. We started the process then and it’s been going good. he wants to win so bad and sometimes I have to keep from being too hard on himself, but he has embraced this move. We’re looking for a lot out of him this year.”
On the receiving end of Rader’s deliveries were some familiar faces for the Rebels. Charlie Lane is South Greene’s most experienced returning receiver. Big target Lucas Couch returns and Simon Burns, who mostly played defense last year, made a handful of tough grabs on Wednesday. Out of the backfield Tripp Neas is also back for the Rebels.
One player who has emerged over the course of the offseason is junior receiver Angell Sanchez and he may have made the catch of the day, elevating over two Hardin Valley defenders to pull in a touchdown in the corner of the endzone.
“We have several young guys that are stepping up,” Jones said. “Angel Sanchez is a guy that has developed and is playing lights out right now. That’s what we want to see in 7-on-7, who are the guys that are ready to step up.”
While South Greene feels good about its skill players it is still trying to figure out its offensive line. Heath Norton and Colton Silvers return as starters, and Jones feels that they have stepped up to become leaders of this squad. But the Rebels are still looking to fill three more spots up front, and when pads go on Monday they hope to find out more about who is ready start on August 22 against Morristown East.
“We have two returning linemen and we have find three more,” Jones said. “That’s the biggest thing we have to figure out over the next month. We know who our skill guys are, and we feel good about them. We have to find some depth up front and if we can do that I think we’ll be alright.”
