LYNNFIELD – The Varsity football team had their first scrimmage against Peabody High over the weekend. The teams stuck to the basics with each side only running 10 plays before switching.
“This was a controlled scrimmage. So, there are no first downs and there are no yard markers. You run 10 plays that you script because you know what you’re looking for whether it’s an offensive line, wide receivers, or running backs,” said Peabody’s Head Coach Mark Bettencourt. “Today is above a seven on seven but below a full scrimmage.”
Both teams were testing the waters and trying out plays that they might not usually run. “They played with a lot of energy. It wasn’t perfect in terms of X’s and O’s but the effort was there,” said Lynnfield’s Head Coach Pat Lamusta. “They had 25 or more players than us and they had some big players too. They were physical so with the opponent and the challenge; I thought the effort was there.”
“Our Veterans performed well and you kind of expect that, they have been there and done that. For a lot of kids on this team, today was their very first football game. So a lot of mistakes were made, some kids were very impressive with their effort and we just have to make sure they’re in the right spots and doing the right thing,” said Bettencourt. “This was getting our feet wet and seeing how things go. We were seeing how it goes against another defense because our defense knows our offense, they know what our plays are, these guys don’t.”
With the first scrimmage in the books, it’s time for coaches to review what they saw this past weekend and figure out what they have in this year’s team.
“Essex Tech is a quick turnaround on Tuesday. It’s time for evaluation. The goal was to get a lot of kids opportunities to see how they play football and just kind of start matching people up in roles where they will succeed,” said Lamusta. “We’ll take some time in the Essex Tech scrimmage to work on punts and punt returns. Then for the Watertown scrimmage, we’ll probably evolve to get some kicks in then too. We just got our kicker Kevin Conley back as a senior. So we’re excited to see him put some points on the board.”
Lynnfield scrimmages Essex Tech at home on Tuesday before heading to Watertown for a scrimmage on Saturday to end their preseason. While Peabody scrimmages Everett at home on Friday to end their preseason.
Maddi Filip can be reached at [email protected]
