Photos in this story were contributed by Resident Press staff photographer, Ronni Tate Young.
In a second night of scrimmages this week versus Booneville, the Charleston Jr. High Tigers seventh grade and junior high teams faced off with the Bearcats in Charleston.
Following Tuesday’s senior high scrimmage, the Bearcats returned to Alumni Stadium to play the Tigers in preseason junior high scrimmages. The Charleston coaching staff, concerned over numbers on their seventh and junior high rosters, were very pleased with the effort and the quality of play from both teams. Mix in the interruptions to spring and summer preparation due to the COVID pandemic, and it is easy to see why the teams entered the scrimmage with many question marks of where the team’s readiness was to start the season.
Charleston head football coach, Ricky May, commented after the scrimmages, “With our seventh grade, we went in thinking it would be a close game. But we knew that we felt like we had several weapons. I think that group, as they get older, will keep getting better. In that group there are several that I think are going to really be explosive. And then, in our junior high, we really were surprised. We have a small number this year; 24 players on the roster. So, a lot of times with the COVID stuff, and we haven’t had anyone with the virus, but some of them have parents that are in health care, and due to quarantining and other related issues, there have been times where we have only had around 20 in practice. So, we were a little bit worried about our depth. We do have three players that are highly skilled and we feel really good about them. But overall, we came out feeling better about our junior high scrimmage than any of them (all three scrimmages with senior high, junior high, and 7th grade). Going in, we really wondered what we had. But, we started several 8th graders and they have become even better than they were last year. So, we feel like we have promise.”
Coach May mentioned several players that stood out to him on Thursday night. “Eli Huck on the junior high team had a real good game. He had about a 60 or 75 yard run where he broke a tackle and just took off. He also plays outside linebacker for us and does a good job there, too. I was also impressed with Hunter Little at linebacker last night. Feel really good about him. Ann really our entire front (on defense) played really well. Maurice Merechka plays a little bit of running back, receiver; he had a couple of really good runs last night. He played really, really well at safety.”
As with the senior high scrimmage on Tuesday, the junior high and 7th grade Tigers came out of both scrimmages without injury. Thursday night’s scrimmage capped off a very successful week for Charleston as they played against good competition, had the opportunity to get in high quality work, and not suffer any injuries. Now, the preseason preparation will continue as the Tigers go back to practice to correct issues that surfaced during the scrimmage. Coaches across the state knew that there would be more corrections than normal at this time of the summer due to the loss of summer practices, seven-on-seven summer games, and spring football practice. As a reporter that has covered several schools this month, I have been very impressed with the Charleston coaching staff, as well as in other schools with how the coaches have improvised and made do with what has been less than ideal conditions to prepare their teams for the upcoming season. Everyone is just grateful to have the chance to play, so preparing to play and simultaneously keeping their players healthy are the top priorities.
Resident Press will continue to follow the Tigers as the wrap-up their summer practices and head into their first game of the season. Stay with Resident Press for Charleston Tigers football coverage all season!
