Navasota/Mexia Scrimmage tonight

[OldBison75]

Just got home and Navasota won the two simulated quarters by scoring twice while Mexia was shut out. As a Navasota fan, I was not that impressed with what I saw. Rattler o-line was not able to stop inside penetration all night and d-line was spotty at best. Navasota needs to learn to wrap up and tackle instead of hitting hard and falling off.

Best hit of the night was in the JV scrimmage when a receiver was cut in two just as the ball touched his hands. He laid around awhile before getting up.

[navscanmaster]

Wasn't too impressed with either team. Navasota has to get something done with their offensive line. Scrimmage ended with Navasota 1 TD, Mexia 0 TDs. Live half ended with Navasota 14, Mexia 0.

Key players that sat out the scrimmage were:

Aleon Calhoun, starting LT
Thomas Sweed, starting WR/DB
Gaston Lamascus, starting WR
Jason Moore, starting OT/DT

The Mexia Blackcats first team defense came out with the intention of popping Dexter Pratt as hard as they could, whether he had the ball or not. I think they got into his head. A few shoving matches were started by taunting from the Blackcats after good hits. Backup running back Jones is a starter for just about any other 3A team in the state. He scored and ran hard when he was in. Kye Hildreth is going to be a big weapon for the Rattlers if he sees much time on offense. We didn't throw too many passes, it appeared that they were working on the play fake and spread option more or less.

[navscanmaster]

I should add that our linebacking crew looks strong, and the defense will probably look like this:

Line
E - Lino Byrd
E - Pete Worbington, or Jason Moore
T - Justin Taylor
T - Dominic Williams

Backers
M - Eugene Castillo
O - Deondre King
O - Kesnick? Jones

Secondary
C - Malcolm Spriggs
C - Thomas Sweed
S - Kye Hildreth
F - Derek Hadley or Jacolby Stokes

That is what I saw, but obviously, I am not a coach. I can say that Deondre King looks like a solid, hard hitting linebacker and Jones will be good as well. If they penetrate like they did early in the scrimmage, they will be a formidable defense.

Mexia will be a good team. Their defense is quick and sure-tackling. Whether their offense can get it going without shooting themselves in the foot will be key.

[navscanmaster]

Oops, I started a thread too. Maybe they will merge them? I agree with your take, OB75.;)

[HEMOTOXIC]

I only saw the live action. I agree with everything that has been said. The offense as a whole looked terrible at best. Blocking was non existence. The D played better but I wasn't impressed with them either.

Rattler fans, our team has alot to of work to do if they want to contend for a district title.

And Navscanmaster, the coaching staff have to be idiots if they don't play Jones and Pratt together.

[Gators17]

How did Pratt look in the scrimmage?

[JR2004]

Lee Boy will get Mexia turned around pretty quick and have them back to making some deep playoff runs before too long. He's just as good a coach as his dad was and his dad was pretty darn good.

[State_In_08]

I wasn't able to be at the scrimmage (or anywhere near for that matter lol) but from what I've heard from multiple sources, the agreement is pretty much that our offense has a long way to go, mostly the O-Line. Defense looked pretty good compared to last year from what I heard. And also, navscanmaster, don't forget Gabe Hernandez on the end, he's a very strong kid and should contribute a lot to the d-line this year. Not 100% on if he's playing end or DT.

[navscanmaster]

Originally posted by Gators17
How did Pratt look in the scrimmage?

Pratt looks fantastic when he doesn't have five defenders on him before he can take a forward step.

He has put on some muscle. He looks like a DI running back. He has speed in the open field, and when he broke a 50 yard run inside to outside, it took a diving tackle to save 6. I tell you, the boy's thighs look like they are ready to churn out some yardage. He is still punishing to tackle when he is going forward. His backup Jones is almost his size, lacking maybe that kind of muscle at worst. I hope Pratt plays third downs on defense this year.

[navscanmaster]

Originally posted by State_In_08
I wasn't able to be at the scrimmage (or anywhere near for that matter lol) but from what I've heard from multiple sources, the agreement is pretty much that our offense has a long way to go, mostly the O-Line. Defense looked pretty good compared to last year from what I heard. And also, navscanmaster, don't forget Gabe Hernandez on the end, he's a very strong kid and should contribute a lot to the d-line this year. Not 100% on if he's playing end or DT.

You are correct. I didn't see him make any standout plays, but he is a big, big kid. I think he is #68? I noticed we switched between a 4-3 and 3-4 alignment. They were pulling Lino Byrd off the tackle spot and moving him to outside LB. Also playing on the D Line were #'s 44, 49?, and 50. #30 played a lot of linebacker and doesn't look afraid to hit. I was impressed with #70 and #80 (Pete Worbington, #58 last year). They played DT a lot and showed good pursuit.