Knoxville Halls Spring Practice

[fairplay2121]

I've not been able to see any spring practices yet. I was wondering if any Halls fans have and how are they looking. They have a long tough road replacing all those seniors lost from last year.

 

Halls paper says they scrimmage Kingsport DB Friday the 12th and Red and White game is in a couple of weeks.

[PowerVolumeTone]

I've not been able to see any spring practices yet. I was wondering if any Halls fans have and how are they looking. They have a long tough road replacing all those seniors lost from last year.

 

Halls paper says they scrimmage Kingsport DB Friday the 12th and Red and White game is in a couple of weeks.

 

From what I understand they don't start practice until tomorrow

[ZCAR]

PVT is right Fairplay tomorrow starts the ball rolling for the Devils.

 

Exciting year ahead for the new red helmet boys. I can't wait.

 

The youth revival is about to write a page in the storied history of Halls football.

[LEONARDSLOSERS]

I am looking forward to seeing what Julian can do from the ground up. He has to replace alot of football players. He has probably done a pretty good job of getting kids out. Should be an exciting year for 3-4A. Many questions on who's gonna be the 2, 3, and 4th team this year.

[fairplay2121]

Thanks for the info.

 

I am looking forward to seeing how Halls looks. There are a few players that are in soccer and baseball. The young guys must step up big for this team to be successful. We may still be a year or two away from contending for the region title but I am still enjoying the ride.

 

Hi ZCAR. It has been a while.

[ZCAR]

Yep it has been. Good to hear from you Fairplay.

 

I'm ready for the new look Devils to come together.

 

You don't suppose Coach Ward will let his hair down a little this year and try to open up the offense. The frosh last year had a lot of speed at their disposal.

What do you think?

 

A sneaky pass off the wing-t every now and then or a more balanced approach to the offense. The spring drills will answer some of these questions. It still may not answer a big question who will be the QB if the varsity Baseball team moves on past the District to the Region? Which I feel confident they will. A lot of questions may remain unanswered in the short term.

 

Still,excitement is in the air. We have the makings of another playoff bound team even building from the ground up as Leonard stated.

Edited May 3, 2006 by ZCAR

[rebelman16]

I am anxious to see how Halls does in some scrimages.

 

ZCar, Who are, in your mind, going to start this year for halls?

[ZCAR]

Rebelman thats going to be a tough one to answer.

 

Only Coach Julian and Ward really have a idea who they like at this time, but the competition will be intense and I think if you have a good spring and can be coachable you will grab a starting spot.

 

The big challenge is defense for Julian. All scrimmages will be very important for the coaches to get a idea who looks good at certain positions and respond to each situation when it comes up. Linebackers & DBs are going to get a lot of careful scruitiny this spring in drills. If Julian finds the right people who play hard, tackle with a purpose and cut down on mental errors Halls will surprise many.

 

My guess is the offense will be the easiest of the two to figure out early. The QB situation (Cooper & Turner) could go back and forth and you could see a platoon system in place like your Rebs have right now with Burnette & Hunt. Offensive line looks fairly solid with a stable of running backs ready to compete for playing time. John Pevy will be called on to carry a big load of that offense on his shoulders.

 

What we have lost in experience we have more than made up for in team speed.

 

So lets wait and see who wants it the most. Exciting days ahead.

[fairplay2121]

ZCAR, I don't know if Halls will "open it up" but I see them having to use short to midrange passes to help open up the run. I don't think they will have the O line to get 4-6 yards consistently between the ends. I hope I am wrong about that. If I am right, they will have to pass and push the edges with their hopefully increased speed. Making defenses play the entire field might open some things up.

 

Who are the ones playing baseball? I hope Cooper and Turner get loads of snaps between now and the first game. Cooper looked a little out of sorts in his limited play last year.

 

Defense has to be smaller, but speed can cure all ills if those guys can tackle and cover receivers.

[PowerVolumeTone]

any word on how practices have looked? how are we going to look for this coming friday? DB will be a tough challenge

[fairplay2121]

Well.....I didn't get to see all of the scrimage against D-B but I saw enough of the first teamers to get a good picture.

 

First of all, I didn't count but it looked like D-B had about 80-90 players dressed for the scrimmage compared to 55-60 for Halls. I know this doesn't matter much and many of those did not play but it looked kind of lopsided.

 

On to the scrimage. I think It was 10 plays on offense a piece followed by down and distance at the end of your 10th play. When I left, D-B had scored 3 or 4 times and Halls had not scored. Halls gave up one 70 or so yard pass and a couple of long runs around the end.

 

The Bad

Halls appeared somewhat unorganized on offense. Backs appeared to be going in the wrong direction some and there were several fumbles and "almost" fumbles due to timing. Some of this could have been due to a green quarterback in Johnson (2) since Cooper is playing baseball. Granted, Johnson did what he could considering he was being hit while making several of these handoffs. D-B was blitzing LB's early exposing Halls' youthful line. I am not sure if Halls gained a total of 30 yards in the 30-40 plays i saw them run.

 

The Good

The defensive line and LB's did not give up too much yardage in the middle. With many "soph.-to-be" playing, they did not look too bad against the run. Their pass rush needs some work or D-B is great at protection.

 

Overall, I was thought Halls looked like I thought they would look. For the most part they looked undersized and young. However, I saw some great potential and flashes of good play out of C. Leonard on the D Line, Hughes at FB and few others that I don't know by their practice jersey numbers.

 

Add the kicking game and Halls will stay close to many teams it plays but they will need to get better to make the playoffs this year.

 

Just my opinion

[ZCAR]

I know Baseball is finished are all spring sports for Halls over? Soccer,Tennis,Track,etc.............

 

Will the players who have finished their spring teams are they putting on the pads and getting ready for the next scrimmage friday evening?

Edited May 17, 2006 by ZCAR