Defense dominates in Eagle scrimmage
Wednesday, Aug. 15 - The Faulkner defense dominated the offense in a 100-play controlled scrimmage Wednesday night at Goodwyn Junior High School. It was, head coach Jim Nichols admitted, the expected result.
''Right now the defense is way ahead,'' Nichols said. 'We're a speed defense, and it's so much reactionary. Offensively, we're still learning assignments. The offense will get better.''
There were some flashes from the offense, with tailback Terrence Craig getting looe on a 22-yard scamper and quarterbacks Frank Chinoski, Chad Kilgore and Justin Wright all making some good throws. The Eagles' receivers struggled most of the night with the aggressive play of the secondary.
Chinoski, who Nichols admitted is out front inthe quarterback race, admitted a lot of the offense's problems could be traced to nerves.
''There were some jitters for sure,'' said the redshirt freshman. ''But that's the way it'll be on game day, so we'll have to get used to it. This is a way for us to get the feel of what Saturdays will be like.''
More than 500 fans were on and to watch the hour and a half scrimmage - a fact that didn't go unnoticed by Chinoski.
''It's good to see the support and hopefully all this excitement will carry over to Saturdays,'' he said. ''It was a great atmosphere for a scrimmage.''
Starting center Caleb Bagley missed the scrimmage with a stinger, but should return to practice in the next couple of days.
The Eagles will practice Thursday and Friday mornings, and then conduct a full lie scrimmage Saturday night at 7. Faulkner is preparing for its season opener at Pikeville (Ky.) Sept. 1.
