More than practice, less than a game
By JARED PUTNAM

Three defenders combine to force the fumble.

This week the Union County Panthers varsity football team will see its first opposition of the year, as new Head Coach Todd Peugh gets a first look at his team in action, though without the pressure of the contest going on the books. On Friday the team will face Gilmer County in a scrimmage that will feature a 2006 squad that is younger and deeper than in years past.

For that reason and more, Coach Peugh noted that one of the most important aspects of this scrimmage is to not only see how players perform "under the lights," but to also get them on film in order to better evaluate them. "We may have to move some people, some people will probably be better than we thought, some people might not not be as good as we thought. We're just trying to get everything organized to make sure everybody [will be] where they need to go."

Coach Peugh said that the staff will approach the game with an idea of who they believe will be starters in the regular season, but that everything is still "wide open." He explained that the team will run basic offense and defense on Friday night. "We're still evaluating our talent," said the skipper.

"Having an open week [between the scrimmage and the season opener against Towns County] helps us," said Coach Peugh, who said that it allows the team time to get some kinks worked out. "We really haven't seen our players that we thought would start all together. We're going to have a lot more team oriented [play]."

The coach said that the team would like to keep the

offensive and defensive units apart as much as possible, but that some carryover is inevitable. "We're going to try to separate it as much as we can, but we will have several that has to do it both ways, especially because of our youth. We'll have some playing both sides, but the good thing about having over 60 kids out, is that some may just get a look on one side of the ball right now."

The coach pointed out that the first three quarters of the scrimmage will feature upper classmen while the final quarter will give the younger players

an opportunity on the field. He acknowledged that teams may not be ready for a scrimmage right now, explaining that more of the Panthers focus has been placed on fundamentals since the first week of September is an open week.

Coach Peugh said he wants to get the players to a point where reactions will come more naturally to them, without them even thinking about what they need to do as much. "By two weeks from Friday we will be more prepared for the regular season game."