Dowland Sees Improvement from War Eagles Between Scrimmages

After losing to Lake County in the first full-padded scrimmage, West Carroll football coach Adam Dowland saw things that he knew his team needed to work on.

On Friday, the War Eagles scrimmaged Dresden and Trinity Christian Academy, and Dowland felt like his team performed better in the second scrimmage of the year.

“There was a lot of improvement in our conditioning,” Dowland said. “I could see our body language was better, we ran to the ball, we finished plays better on offense and defense. Our big guys played harder for longer periods, which is good for us. Our effort and attention to details was better, so we had a really good week and played better because of it.”

Teams rotated between playing defense, playing offense and taking a break. Offensively, West Carroll didn’t score on TCA in the three times the two played, but the War Eagles beat Dresden 6-0. Defensively, the War Eagles lost to Dresden 7-0, didn’t give up a touchdown to Dresden, lost to TCA 8-0 and lost to Dresden 7-0.

“Physically, I thought we did fine in the box with linebackers, d(efensive) line and o(ffensive) line,” Dowland said. “We have young guys in the places learning multiple spots. We play hard and physical and run the ball, and that is the West Carroll way.”

The War Eagles started the scrimmage on offense against TCA, and while they didn’t score, Ben Pruitt hit Quamarion Patterson for a 20-yard pass during the 10-play series.

West Carroll again scrimmaged TCA in its second series, and while the War Eagles didn’t score, Zach Hames rushed for 10 yards on one play.

In the offense’s first try against Dresden, the War Eagles moved the ball. Pruitt hit Patterson for a 38-yard pass, Jayden Milton rushed for 12 yards, Zac Fowler rushed for nine yards before Pruitt hit Patterson for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion was no good.

The War Eagles scrimmaged TCA’s defense once again and didn’t score, but Milton did get off a 12-yard run.

West Carroll will get another crack at Dresden this Friday as part of the Henry County Jamboree.

“We have to play faster on offense,” Dowland said. “We have to get to the ball and have some urgency. Our kids don’t want to make some mistakes, so they are overthinking some things. On offense, we have to have better communication on the O-Line with schemes. Defensively, we have to keep the ball inside of us.”