Fast Daingerfield Prepares Tigers For Athens Opener

The Wills Point Tigers start the season tonight (Friday) against an athletic Athens Hornets team. While the visiting Hornets may test the home team with some speed, the Tigers have already seen faster.

In the final scrimmage of the season, the Tigers met Daingerfield in White Oak, and got a glimpse of what fast is.

"It was an eye-opener, how fast they were," said head coach Kevin Garvin. "They had such team speed. It was a good test for us to see a team that’s as well prepared as they were."

Daingerfield is the defending state champion in Class 2A, and are favored to repeat.

The scrimmage had a controlled portion and a "live" half. Daingerfield outscored the Tigers 2-1 in the controlled scrimmage, and two touchdowns to a field goal in the live portion, but the coaching staff was pleased with the team’s effort and execution.

"We held out our three starting receivers," Garvin said of the offense. "There wasn’t anything to gain by playing them. They don’t have anything to prove to us."

Garvin said quarterback Trent Jurica’s timing with the second receivers was good.

"We still have some things to work on," the coach said. "But there were some positive things."

The staff also held out starting running back Brandon Morris, which speaks well of the junior’s preparedness for the start of the season. Morris provides the type of speed the Tigers saw displayed in the scrimmage, and he will possibly be the fastest player on the field in the next ten games.

Success on the offensive side of the ball will likely depend on the progress of an inexperienced line.

"It’s going to take some time for the line to gel," Garvin said. "We only have the one senior (Chris Ross). Gray is the only other player with varsity experience. Our experience is with the quarterbacks and receivers. Those are the leaders.

"Defensively we were aggressive and getting to the football," Garvin said. "We’re getting comfortable with our assignments."

The Athens Hornets are in the process of getting comfortable with their assignments. Paul Essary is the new head coach in Athens, and players are learning new systems on both sides of the ball, which is a switch from last season’s opening game.

The Hornets are lining up in the spread formation, and are using two quarterbacks in the scrimmages.

"They have a running quarterback and a passing quarterback," Garvin said. "They will pass or run with either one of them, but they prefer one as a runner and one as a passer."

Nick Monmouth (No. 8) is listed as a quarterback and running back. He’s accurate in the short passing game, according to Garvin, but the Hornets will most often run with him in the game. Carson Hutson (No. 11) is listed as a quarterback and receiver, and is more likely to throw the ball down field.

"They’re multiple in what they do on offense," Garvin said. "Both quarterbacks are athletic. They’ll run the quarterback sweep, or sprint out or drop back, and they have tall lanky receivers with some speed to throw it to."

"Defensively, they are learning a new system, but they’re flying to the ball and being aggressive."

Wills Point will start out with only one player playing both ways. Joseph Gray will play on the offensive line and at inside linebacker. At every other position, the Tigers will try to have one-way starters, though there could be some rotation in the secondary.

As usual, the Tigers have a difficult pre-district schedule, and to have momentum and confidence going into district play, the team needs at least two wins in the first five. A win over Athens would get the team halfway to that minimum goal.