But for several players, tonight’s scrimmage against Waco Midway will be as pressure-filled as a regular-season game.
The Tigers host the Panthers at 7 p.m. at Tiger Field, with several key positions - including the quarterback race between junior Kevin Thornton and sophomore David Ash - up in the air.
“We’ve got several positions that need to be decided as for who will be our No. 1,” said second-year coach Rodney Southern, 3-7 in his first season. “We’ll make all those decisions on Saturday.”
The running back situation also will become clearer after tonight. Senior Josh Newman and juniors Anthony Huber and Seth Alcozer are in line to replace the duo of Keith Daniels and Khiry Robinson, which accounted for 63 percent of Belton’s offense last year.
Other positions that still need to be decided include the offensive line, wide receiver and secondary.
Southern said that while some players are competing for starting spots, many others are battling for extra snaps or trying to make the varsity team. But whoever is on the field, Southern said he wants to see the X’s and O’s performed at a high level.
“The biggest thing for me is execution,” said Southern, whose Tigers open the regular season against Ennis at 7 p.m. Thursday at Waco ISD Stadium. “I want to see, ‘Are we executing our stuff the way we need to execute our stuff.’ In our situation, I’ll use the quarterback position as an example. I want to see if Kevin can lead our football team.
“The same goes for the linebacker position with Kyle (Voss, entering his third year as a starter). I’ve got to put some people around him. I want to see those people when the heat is on them.”
Belton and Midway will start the scrimmage either on offense or defense for a 20-minute period. For example, if Belton goes on offense first, it will keep the ball and run as many plays as it can during the 20-minute session. Then the two teams will switch, with the Tigers going on defense.
Each offense will start on its 30-yard line, and if it records first downs it will keep moving down the field. If the defense holds, the offense will start over at the 30 with a fresh set of downs.
After the two 20-minute sessions, each team will run a series of plays in the red zone and practice live field goals.
Finally, the two teams will play at least one and possibly two live quarters that will last from 10-12 minutes with the clock running at all times.
Midway’s Panthers return six starters on offense and five on defense from a squad that finished 5-6 and lost in the Class 4A bi-district playoff round.
Running back John Hubert, District 16-4A’s Offensive Player of the Year last season, ran for 1,747 yards and 22 touchdowns. Tight end Trey Graham, who has verbally committed to play for Texas, caught 23 passes last season.
“Offensively and defensively, we have some things we want to see,” Southern said. “We want to give our guys who are battling for spots equal time. This is like a glorified practice for me. It’s the last true test that we’ll have to evaluate kids on the bubble.”
NOTES: The freshman game will begin at 5 p.m. and the junior varsity at 6. If both teams need extra time, they’ll move to the practice field.
