Troy 21 Dunbar 0

High School Football (scrimmage)
Home Team: Troy Trojans
Visiting Team: Dunbar Wolverines
Venue: Troy Memorial Stadium
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None
My Photos

It's kind of hard to figure out a scrimmage, at least for me. I like to go and get a glimpse of the Trojans, but it's always so hard to tell if what you're seeing is good or bad. You never know about the quality of the opponent, or if what's going on is the way the team will perform over the course of the season or if it's just a fluke. Still, it's Troy football at Troy Memorial Stadium, so you know I was there.

The biggest impression I came away with is that the officials were already in midseason form. There may have been more penalty yardage in this game than actual offensive yardage. I think I'm exaggerating, but maybe not by much. There was a ludicrous amount of penalties. That's a concern, if the calls were valid. The Trojans will need to tighten that up, as they won't be able to afford to give up too many free yards, not against the schedule they've got this year.

Beyond that, I think Troy's defense looked really good, much better than they have for a while. They were getting a lot of pressure on the quarterback, hitting backs in the backfield, really swarming to the ball, and tackling fairly well. That's good to see. A good defense will be able to keep them in games. The offense didn't look too bad, although they did hamstring themselves with penalties. If they can get that under control, they should be okay. I think they'll have some exciting new wrinkles this year that will help.

The season starts for real next week with a trip to Columbus to take on Dublin Coffman. Can't wait!