With less than two weeks before opening kickoff, a summer of adjustments has turned into a fall of fine-tuning for Republic Tigers football. With the annual fall scrimmage behind him, head coach Wes Beachler says the remainder of preseason practice will focus on repetition.
“Early in the summer, we let kids pick the position they wanted to try for, and we moved a lot of kids during that second camp. So now we’re looking at…who, potentially, are going to be our Friday night players on both sides of the ball, just trying to fine-tune by getting kids in the position they’re going to play, and getting them a lot of reps in the position they’re going to play, so they’re comfortable in that spot.”
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Beachler says last Saturday’s scrimmage provided some “clarity” for the coaching staff.
“A Saturday morning scrimmage is a good evaluation of the kids, and it’s a good evaluation of the coaches. It tells us a lot about the kids that are ready to play as far as pad level, technique, knowing the assignments,” Beachler says. “And it also tells me a lot about the coaches and areas we need to work on, if there are plays or certain areas where nobody’s doing what they’re supposed to be doing, that’s a coaching thing and we need to get on that in the next week.”
And, as always, Beachler says the scrimmage contained a few unexpected performances.
“You’d think in my 22nd year, this would no longer surprise me, but it still amazes me how you’d put a lot of stake in certain plays… and it doesn’t pan out,” he says. “There are some plays you’re thinking, ‘I don’t know if we can run that very well,’ and we run it well. Then there are always those kids where you’re like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know he had it in him.'”
Depth at the so-called skill positions are a strong point as the season approaches.
“I think depth in the offensive backfield and defensive backfield is a strength,” says Beachler. “Like most people nowadays, I think we’re probably a little bit thin on the offensive and defensive line as far as depth. We have a lot of quality kids that are capable of playing, we’re just going to have to get them to step up a little bit.
“(Another strength) is also the balance we have as far as who we can put out there on both sides of the ball. I’d like to platoon as much as we can. I think we’re going to be able to have some kids who are going to be able to start just one way. I think we have a good balance of kids that are somewhat equal in their ability level and their focus, and that will help to get some kids just playing on one side of the ball, so we can have a little fresher kids.”
Beachler says that ability to platoon is especially important on the front line in a conference like the COC.
“It’s important to have fresh guys up front. You’ve got to have an offensive line that can move people off the ball for four quarters, and a defensive line that can get some pressure on the quarterback and can also slow down the run on the other side. I like to have fresh linemen on both sides of the ball if we can get them in there.”
The Tigers travel to Camdenton Friday night for their preseason jamboree, when they’ll get a better idea of how well the pieces are falling into place.
“I don’t know if you ever feel comfortable in your first year when there’s so much to do in a short amount of time, but we’ll get there,” Beachler says. “I appreciate the hard work the young men have put in so far. We need to continue to grow maturity-wise and work ethic-wise, and we need to understand the time to get better is now, and there’s no second chances. On Friday night, if we’re not ready, there’s no re-dos.”
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