Time:

Gametime is 7:30 according to Boyd posters but I'm hearing 7:00 from Belfry folks on the street.

 

Anyone know for sure. I'm not doubting anyone, I would just like to confirm it soon as it is a long drive.

 

Location etc:

Boyd Co High School. Is it best for us to just get on I64 W and then take the Canonsburg exit?

 

Any detailed directions for the Belfry fans would be appreciated.

 

Also, what restaurants are nearby without driving into Ashland? Will they be selling concessions at the scrimmage?

 

 

Details:

Anyone know the format of the scrimmage?

 

Coach Haywood always prefers a 10 and 10 format for the first scrimmage at least and I would expect something along those lines tonight. I don't think Belfry would sign up for a first scrimmage under any other format but I don't know what the custom is at Boyd.

 

What to watch:

Belfry will be the same old Belfry, running mainly out of the bone and the 52 defense. Expect nothing fancy and expect to see a lot of people playing a lot of positions. Belfry's scrimmages are rarely a thing of beauty, but they are learning experiences, especially for the guys on the bubble of making the starting unit. You won't see the entire starting unit in there together much at all after the first few plays as they will sub often and by position. They will wear practice gear and have a practice mentality throughout. Never go to a Belfry scrimmage expecting to see a prelude to opening night or anything resembling a game format, you will likely be disappointed.

 

On defense, Belfry's front 7 will all be back from last year. This will be a fun group to watch this season. The secondary returns only one starter, and that seems to be a theme for the last several years. On offense they return most of the backfield and receivers, but have to replace 4 interior linemen. Will probably see some growning pains there.

 

 

What do we expect from Boyd Co in a scrimmage? What type of offense and defense are they likely to throw at us? How much experience do they return?

 

 

Looking forward to some football, it has been a long time.

Give us a detailed rundown when you get back Tusi! Have fun!

Time:

Also, what restaurants are nearby without driving into Ashland? Will they be selling concessions at the scrimmage?

 

The Flying J, just off I64, has a decent restaurant in it. Rajha's, 3 miles past high school, home cooked meals. KFC, Dairy Queen, Taco Bell, Arby's, Bob Evens, McDonalds, Subway all less then 5 miles past high school.

Add Wendy's to the restaurant list. The Daily Independent has 7pm game time, but the players are still saying around 7:30.

Absolutely take 64 and get off the Cannonsburg exit. Turn right on 60 and go about a mile and take the first right. You will be able to see the Football filed, baseball field and high school.

I'm not sure it will be cool enough by 7.

 

Looking forward to the trip. I enjoyed talking with the Boyd fans in 2003 when we played you in the Pike Co Bowl, good folks. See ya in a few hours.

Glad you will be there Watusi, been too much driving for me lately to make the trip up to Boyd County tonight. If you don't mind, be sure to fill us in specifically on which halfbacks stand out tonight and which younger players (ie Lovern, Thomas Varney, etc) look good.

 

I have a feeling we might see quite a bit of passing tonight from the Pirates.

From what I was told by a fan who was there from Boyd Co. Belfry varsity won 3 TD's to 1 but not really for sure, scored are meaningless in a scrimage though.

Interested to hear from both sides how things went.

From what I was told by a fan who was there from Boyd Co. Belfry varsity won 3 TD's to 1 but not really for sure, scored are meaningless in a scrimage though.

Interested to hear from both sides how things went.

 

That is probably pretty close to actually what happened. I believe Belfry was trying to score more than Boyd was. There were a few times that Boyd was experimenting on short yardage plays. Belfry definetly had the better team at this point, but Boyd will improve with time. The main positive for Boyd was Belfry had no one that could catch Barker in the open field when he found a hole, but Boyd was able to track down most of Belfry's RB's.

 

Good scrimmage for both teams.:thumb:

Curious to hear about RB and QB rotations for Belfry?

That is probably pretty close to actually what happened. I believe Belfry was trying to score more than Boyd was. There were a few times that Boyd was experimenting on short yardage plays. Belfry definetly had the better team at this point, but Boyd will improve with time. The main positive for Boyd was Belfry had no one that could catch Barker in the open field when he found a hole, but Boyd was able to track down most of Belfry's RB's.

 

Good scrimmage for both teams.:thumb:

I am actually surprised Belfry scored as many times as they did, usually scrimmages, in particular the first scrimmage, is nothing but a glorified practice for the Pirates.

 

Thanks for the input. Belfry doesn't have any true speedsters like in years past (Maynard, Jones, Caudill) but they have alot of team quickness, so it doesn't surprise me.

 

How did the Belfry HB "Platoon" look? Did any HB stand out more so than the others?

 

Did Belfry pass the ball much? How did they look defending the pass again st Boyd?

ttt

bttt

Its been a long day and I haven't had time to post.

 

I'll post more thoughts later, but for now i will say that I was pleased with Belfry for a first scrimmage. The difference between the teams seemed to be that Belfry returned so many on defense and they were a little ahead of Boyd at this stage. Belfry's front 7 played well and they controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part.

 

Boyd moved the ball well when they balanced things out and threw the ball more. They completed several short passes that would be chain movers. But Belfry played good run defense, save for the one play where the Boyd runner went through untouched and nobody could catch him.

 

Belfry ran their base offense with different personnel, even mixing in about 10 passes or so. Elkins looked sharp at times and only threw one deep ball, which is refreshing. He threw several pases in the 6-9 yard range and Preston seemed to be his favorite target.

 

Thomas Varney looked good on offense scoring once on a pass against the varsity and once on a run against the JV. Lee has dropped some weight and has deceiving speed for a guy his size. The line looked pretty good, even though I didn't know who most of them were in their practice jerseys.

 

On defense, Webb stood out at nose, and I noticed May and Bowen making several plays. We moved well to the ball. I saw several new faces in the secondary, including Lovern, T Varney, Dotson and Preston.

Its been a long day and I haven't had time to post.

 

I'll post more thoughts later, but for now i will say that I was pleased with Belfry for a first scrimmage. The difference between the teams seemed to be that Belfry returned so many on defense and they were a little ahead of Boyd at this stage. Belfry's front 7 played well and they controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part.

 

Boyd moved the ball well when they balanced things out and threw the ball more. They completed several short passes that would be chain movers. But Belfry played good run defense, save for the one play where the Boyd runner went through untouched and nobody could catch him.

 

Belfry ran their base offense with different personnel, even mixing in about 10 passes or so. Elkins looked sharp at times and only threw one deep ball, which is refreshing. He threw several pases in the 6-9 yard range and Preston seemed to be his favorite target.

 

Thomas Varney looked good on offense scoring once on a pass against the varsity and once on a run against the JV. Lee has dropped some weight and has deceiving speed for a guy his size. The line looked pretty good, even though I didn't know who most of them were in their practice jerseys.

 

On defense, Webb stood out at nose, and I noticed May and Bowen making several plays. We moved well to the ball. I saw several new faces in the secondary, including Lovern, T Varney, Dotson and Preston.

Just the man we have all been waiting for HAHA

 

Thanks for the info Tusi! When you get the chance throw some more info to us. Elkins has been looking pretty sharp from what I have seen, he also appears considerably more confident in his passing abilities.

 

My general overview of Belfry from watching practice is:

Team with solid Senior leadership, but also still very young across the board. Solid, experienced defense. Offense that won't peak til late in the season. No real eye popping talent aside from May, but lots of depth at skill positions and a little more versatility than Belfry teams of the past.