Shaffer: Zebras improved as scrimmage progressed

Winamac’s Davis compliments team on growth from summer scrimmage

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Rochester football coach Isaac Shaffer does not like scrimmages.

The scrimmage included senior fullback Kale Shotts breaking into the defensive backfield for a long run in the first segment of the scrimmage and three more touchdowns in the second segment, which consisted of plays starting at the opponents’ 10-yard-line.

Meanwhile, Winamac did not score a touchdown in the second segment.

The game marked the coaching debuts for both Rochester’s Isaac Shaffer and Winamac’s Eric Davis. Davis is a former Rochester coach and faculty member.

Rochester adjusted to the faster speed of the game as it progressed.

“These scrimmages, I can’t stand them,” Shaffer said. “You know, I’m a defensive guy, and so when you don’t get to watch film for a whole week and you’ve just got to go out there and play it by ear. I thought our guys looked kind of slow at first, but after we got those first 15 plays and got to go out for the second time, guys started to figure that out and played a lot faster. I think they handled the misdirection a little bit better as the scrimmage went on.”

Davis was asked if the plays were scripted out before the scrimmage.

“We had our selection of plays narrowed down to what we wanted to do,” Davis said. “But there is a rhyme or reason to what we do. From that standpoint, I was very happy with some of the things we did, for sure.”

Ivan Cardenas and Louis Rugg III received carries at the halfback spot while Tearson Wolford manned fullback. All three are seniors. Xavier Adriano is a dual threat junior at quarterback.

Davis was asked about the offensive line. Projected starters include Walker Lovely, Layne Tetzloff, Cody Wheeler, Alex Stonebraker and Keegan Kough.

“We showed growth from Carroll thud (a full-speed scrimmage where there is no tackling) to today,” Davis said. “I don’t think there is any doubt. We’re going to go back, and there’s a lot of things we did on film, not just up front but across the board that we need to get a lot better at.”

Rochester’s Grant Holloway and Aiden Wilson had touchdown runs in the third segment.

“After we got those first 15 plays out of the way, I think we scored on two or three of our first couple plays on the 10-yard line, and I thought they played with a better speed then,” Shaffer said.

Both Mitchell Clark and Mason Oliver played quarterback. Shaffer has said both will continue to see time under center once the regular season starts.

“A lot of things to work on,” Shaffer said. “I thought Mitchell Clark did exactly what we want from him. We want him to command the huddle. We want him to have guys organized in the right spots and (on) every play, dealing cards to whomever and no one can see where the ball is until it’s two yards across the line of scrimmage. I thought he did a good job there.

“Mason Oliver, a few things to work on. We want to use his athletic ability. I think that we kind of showed that with some of the plays that we called for him. He’s just got to gain some confidence, and he will.”

Davis said the defense in the second segment must improve.

“My only disappointment tonight was we got rattled in that second stanza,” Davis said. “We’ve got to wipe the slate clean and play the next play. That’s hugely critical. We can’t revert to getting down or exhibiting behaviors where we just aren’t as crisp, we aren’t as locked in, and we’re playing the next play 100 percent. That’s the biggest thing I want to fix coming out of tonight.”