Robbinsville football players prepare for season opener Friday
If Friday’s scrimmage is any indication, Robbinsville football fans are in for a treat this season.
The Black Knights welcomed a pair of Smoky Mountain Conference teams to Big Oaks Stadium for an evening of controlled scrimmages, with the Andrews Wildcats and the Cherokee Braves visiting Graham County for the showcase.
“A lot of kids got to play, which is good,” Robbinsville head coach Dee Walsh said. “We’ve had a long week of practice and I’m sure they’re tired at this point, but that’s why we do this. You find out you’re not as disciplined as you want to be, so you go to work on that.”
The night played out in two formats. For the first half, each team took turns manning both sides of the ball against the other two schools present, with teams allotted 10 plays per possession. In the final segments, a time-limit was invoked for the same system, with no possession limit, giving things more of a genuine game feel.
Some strong defense from Candler Edwards and Carlos Wesley shut down Cherokee’s offense to begin the evening before the Black Knights’ offense took the field for the first time. Though Andrews had Robbinsville’s Rylee Anderson snuffed out, big runs from quarterback Nathan Collins and running back Lex Hooper more than made up for the scouting.
Robbinsville’s air game improved as the evening transpired, with Collins connecting for a touchdown pass to Anderson against Cherokee. Anderson later had a 75-yard carry against the Braves, with Hooper recording a rushing touchdown. Kamron McGuire nabbed a Tucker Holloway pass to quickly shift gears against Andrews, with the Knights later making a red-zone stand against Cherokee on defense.
Hooper posted an 88 yard run that broke the plane against Cherokee, with Colby Lovin finding the end zone in the Knights’ final action of the scrimmage against the Wildcats.
“We all had fun,” Walsh added. “We kept everything basic, but it was good to work on some conditioning, blocking and tackling.”
It’s showtime
The focus now shifts to the season opener, which is Friday at Smoky Mountain. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Robbinsville stacked three straight away games to the beginning of its schedule, with a trip to Erwin on Friday, Sept. 6, following a journey to Life Christian Academy on Friday, Aug. 30. The tough non-conference action was by design.
“It’s time to play a game. We’re tired of practicing,” Walsh said. “Next week will be hard. We’ll go in, break down film with the kids and start conditioning more. It’s good for them, but that’s why we play this non-conference games. We want to find out where we are and get better.
“Our non-conference games are tough, so if you’re going to have a chance in the conference, you better get tough.”