Hatchets suit up for scrimmage
The THS varsity football team got a chance to whack pads with another team in Friday’s home scrimmage with Wittenberg-Birnamwood, Colby and Athens.
“As a coaching staff we were very pleased with our scrimmage,” Tomahawk coach John Larson said. “First of all, we came out of it injury free. That is always first priority, you never want to lose anyone before the regular season even gets started.
“I was extremely pleased with our physical play especially on defense! Three things we really stressed in the first two weeks defensively were being physical, getting 11 men to the football and being a better tackling team than we were last year.
“Our kids brought that to the table on Friday. We attacked, had 11 men fly to the football and finished with a strong tackle. In three defensive series (45 total plays) we allowed just one touchdown. I don’t think we have ever held the opponents to just one score in the scrimmage.”
Larson and his staff noticed a lone phase needing correction.
“One area we need to address is controlling the perimeter,” he said. “We allowed a couple teams to have some success off the edge, but that is an easy fix.”
The Hatchets played to mixed reviews on offense.
“Offensively we were our own worst enemy,” Larson said. “We were good at times and other times we struggled. Those struggles came more from a lack of mental toughness than anything else. This, too, is an easy fix.
“I thought our backs ran hard and were very physical. Our quarterback threw the ball well for the most part and our receivers did a decent job with their routes and catching the ball. One area we will address this next week is consistent line play. Our offense goes as our offensive line goes! We have to get better up front!”
The Tomahawk coaches with the way the squads came together for the event.
“With all the above being said, we accomplished a lot of great things on Friday and we did it as a team,” Larson said. “In two weeks, we threw a lot of things at our players, a new offense, a new defense and I thought they handled it very well.We have a long way to go, but Friday was a great start!”
Tomahawk will host Chequamegon at 7:00 p.m. on Friday in the season opener.