PREP FOOTBALL: Four county teams scrimmage in 7-on-7 action

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on July 12, 2018 5:51 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

Desmond Vaughn watched a catchable ball drop to the turf.

Then another.

And a third.

"That's all right, not a bad ball," Eastern Wayne head coach Tavares Oates said. "It's only your third play dude."

Vaughn took the next snap.

He danced in the pocket a little bit and looked toward the left corner.

"Give it time, give it time...now!" Oates said.

The ball glanced off the receiver's fingertips.

Vaughn soon found a rhythm and the Warriors went to work -- on offense and defense -- during a six-team, 7-on-7 affair at the Bryan Multi-Sports Complex on Wednesday evening. County rivals Goldsboro, Southern Wayne and Spring Creek joined the party along with out-of-town guests Clayton and Beddingfield.

Sweat poured down Oates' brow as he crouched in the end zone.

After each play, particularly on defense, he went into "teacher" mode.

"I'm not going to say we're fully ahead of schedule," Oates said. "We've got a good 75 percent in [the playbook] of what we want to do. We're glad to match up with the competition, glad to these guys give us different looks as far as the passing game.

"It's like I tell my quarterback, we're not going to pass 99 percent of the game. [This] gives us time to get in practice."

Spring Creek signal caller Dominique Morse started off in the same fashion as Vaughn. His passes were slightly off the mark against Beddingfield.

His third throw?

A completion toward the right sideline.

"Hey, third time is the charm," second-year SC head coach Daniel Robinson said. "Way to move the sticks."

Robinson patted Morse on the helmet.

The Gators, of the East Central 2-A Conference, settled down from there.

"We've got a lot of freshmen and first-year players," Robinson said. "They don't even know how to line up...half of them. A lot of them have zero varsity experience, so this is a step in the right direction for them being able to see that."

Robinson noted that SC needs to work on its offensive alignment, determine its starting QB and build from that point. Kids who normally play on the line stepped in at linebacker for the night.

This 7-on-7 had a twist -- referees.

The large group of gentlemen, who worked in crews, offered a simulation-type contest. They blew the whistle to start the play clock and blew each play dead after a two-handed stop, dropped pass or touchdown.

Oates said the multiple-team "competition draws our guys to workouts, so that's a plus."

Robinson had similar feelings.

"I hope this implements to the kids that you can't take the spring and summer off," Robinson said. "You've got to be out here all the time. We're way behind right now because our numbers have been low during the summer. I hope this is a wake-up call to them."

The final dead period is July 18-22.

Preseason practice begins July 30 statewide.