Scrimmage report: Southmoore, Yukon, PC and BA

I went into the Southmoore-Yukon-Putnam City-Broken Arrow scrimmage expecting quite a show, with two Oklahoma QB commits, Southmoore’s Kendal Thompson and BA’s Archie Bradley, as well as a solid senior at PC, Caleb Lee, and one of the state’s top junior signal-callers, Yukon’s Corben Jones.

Then again, scrimmages are for making your team better, not showing off your talent.

The early portion of the scrimmage, when all four teams were going on half-fields, had more action than the mini-games. Thompson and Jones were throwing downfield more. Thompson took off on a few impressive runs. It was good stuff.

Broken Arrow’s run game was pretty solid, breaking free for multiple long runs with three different backs, and Bradley made some nice throws, though he was obvioulsy not back to full form after missing some time for an all-America baseball game in California last week.

Yukon’s defense has some guys in new positions, and I think it will improve as they get more comfortable. I spoke briefly with Derek Deeds after the game and he talked about being a little lost at times, with it being his first scrimmage at free safety.

Here’s the breakdown from Saturday’s paper, all in one place:

QBs take a backseat in Moore

A pretty impressive collection of quarterbacks were on hand for the four-team scrimmage between Southmoore, Yukon, Putnam City and Broken Arrow.

But on many plays those quarterbacks were little more than spectators as all four teams had other plans for Friday night’s meeting at Moore Stadium.

Southmoore’s Kendal Thompson participated in the early part of the scrimmage, but played only one series at QB in the mini-game against Yukon, which Southmoore won 14-7.

Yukon is working to develop its young offensive line, and didn’t throw as much as it will during the season. Putnam City and Broken Arrow are both trying to get a feel for what kind of run game they will have to compliment strong throwing QBs.

PC line improving

In an offense geared to run the ball more reliably than last year, Putnam City is seeing progress from its mostly new offensive line, despite Friday’s 14-0 loss to Broken Arrow.

Junior running backs Casey Curtis and Desmond Tilley provide a good combination of speed and power, two good weapons if the offensive line comes together as the coaches think it can.

“I feel it went pretty good,” senior tackle Jay Hura said. “Everyone needs to get better. We have a lot to work on, but there were some things we did well. We had a few breakdowns that we’ll be fixing before we face Putnam City North (in the season opener).”

Yukon defense building around experience

Yukon defensive coordinator Steve Chard has some solid pieces to build around as he puts his defense together. He must find two defensive tackles, and he has moved some players around in the secondary — where the Millers have plenty of talent — to find the right mix.

But it helps that he has both defensive ends back in Andrew Edwards and Jake Doyle, along with linebackers Jake Henderson and Carson Mathews.

Senior Kollin Retter started at free safety last year, but has moved into a linebacker/safety hybrid position, getting the hard-hitting tackler closer to the ball.

Southmoore’s Edwards gets lots of action

Sophomore quarterback Tre Edwards of Southmoore had an idea he might get a lot of playing time Thursday night and he was right.

The backup to starter Kendal Thompson quarterbacked all but one series in the mini-game against Yukon, leading both touchdown drives.

“We feel really good about Tre and his abilities,” Southmoore coach Chris Jensen said. “This was a great opportunity to get him some reps.”