by Rusty Ellis
Monterey and Livingston Academy battled it out on Friday in both programs’ first full-contact scrimmage, as week one of the football season draws closer with each passing day.
For MHS head coach Scott Hughes, he says it’s an exciting day that every high school team looks forward to: the day where you get to hit someone in different-colored jersey from yours.
“It was great to be out here, a beautiful night,” Hughes said. “Coach (Matthan) Houser and I go way back, we’ve worked together for a long time…It’s a good, competitive night, and at the end of it, everyone shakes hands and moves on the next one.”
The Wildcats ran the ball well, with players like Kole Bowman and Collin Fowler each getting some opportunities to show what they can do within the offense. As a team with several new faces in new positions, Hughes knows patience is ultimately what he’s emphasizing with both his players and his staff.
“We have some positives, and we’ve got a tremendous amount of new faces,” Hughes said. “Offensively, we’ve got a lot of growth we’ve got to find really quick…we’re not where we need to be, but we grew tonight. We’re having to be so patient, and it’s hard because you know where you need to get to.”
On the other side, Livingston saw some success through the air as returning quarterback Brodey Coffee hit Jake Hughes for two long touchdowns in the scrimmage.
For Houser, that’s just a sign of how much football the two of them have played together, mixed with a lot of growth from Coffee going all the way back to the Spring.
“They know each other, and they know where they’re going to be,” Houser said. “Brodey’s come such a long way from this Spring, he’s had to process a lot of new information…that’s difficult when you learn the terminology of one offense and then have to scrap that and learn an entirely new offense. It’s just a process of him getting more and more comfortable.”
There’s growing pains for both sides in scrimmages such as Friday’s, but nothing can shake the excitement of being back in pads. playing football under the lights.
“You learn a lot about your team and when you can bring in a team like Monterey, that only helps,” Houser said. “We know when we go up against them, we’re getting a well-coached team that does things the right way…we’ve got to clean some things up, but they competed and they played hard in a game situation. We’ve got a long way to go in three weeks.”
Monterey will open their season at Cannon County on Aug. 18. while Livingston begins their season at home against Trousdale County.
