Germantown scrimmage

Our second (and final) scrimmage of the season is in the books. Like with any scrimmage, we did some things we liked, and we have plenty to work on.

The Germantown program is a very good program, and our team had a chance to go up against some very solid players. The Germantown teams were not afraid to come after us, and the theme of the past two weeks - intensity and aggressiveness - will still be an issue.

I'd like for us to play a little bit faster and harder, and that comes from between the ears. Part of that comes with experience, as players do less thinking and more reacting as they learn the offense and defense.

We did have a few nice plays tonight. We completed a long pass after solid protection, and a beatiful throw-and-catch was the icing on the cake. In our final session, our defense gave up a big play on the first snap - and then held strong for much of the remainder of the session. We were also able to break a long run, after some good blocking and a nice cutback.

A special thanks to our team manager, Steve Opichka, who did just an excellent job on the sidelines for us for the second scrimmage in a row. At the end of the night, all of the equipment was just as organized as it was at the beginning of the scrimmage...and trust me, it's not because of anything that I did to help.

Also a special thanks to all of our parents. We realize that a weekday scrimmage at 5:30PM in Germantown is not the most convenient thing in the world, but everybody did a great job to make it work out. The sportsmanship has also been outstanding thus far, both from parents and players. So thank you to our parents as well.

Practice tomorrow at the usual time, 5pm-7pm. We will likely have another physical defensive practice. We are seeing more positive signs, but such a large part of football is hitting and attitude, and we need to work on both.

One final reminder: The High School Varisty team has its first game of the season this Friday. It is Youth night, so we will encourage all of our players to attend the game and wear their jerseys to get in free. We will also remind the players that they are now representatives of Hartford Football, and they must be on their best behavior. There is always a coach at the varisty games - I go to all of them, and I know some of my fellow coaches do as well - and we'll have our eye on our players to make sure they are not causing any trouble.

See you at practice.