Eupora football coach Stephen Edwards got to see exactly what he wanted to see as the Eagles finished up spring football drills with a jamboree on Thursday.
Eupora played J.Z. George and O’Bannon, winning both contests.
“I thought our kids got a lot of reps and that’s the good thing,” Edwards said. “We will make some changes in the fall, but I thought we had a good attitude and a good overall effort. I thought we ran the ball well and I thought our line really got after it. We were aggressive on defense and we ran the ball hard. I think that’s a good recipe for winning football games.”
Against J.Z. George, Edwards said the Eagles scored four times and allowed only one score.
“I thought J.Z. George was much improved,” Edwards said. “They have a good-looking bunch. I was really pleased with the effort. J.Z. has a big fullback and will surprise some people next year.”’
Against O’Bannon, Eupora had four scores but gave up three.
“They went 7-4 last year and they are excited about what they have coming back,” Edwards said. “They are big up front and have a big receiver. We wanted to play some people who were going to push us. We wanted to compete and got some good work out of it.”
Edwards said there were several starters who didn’t play on defense as they were getting work on offense as he was working on building depth.
“We probably gave up a few scores because we had some starters out on defense,” Edwards said. “We had several kids who just played offense while some other kids got some reps on defense to see if they can play. That’s just going to build depth for us. At times, we weren’t lined up right on defense but it’s also one of those things you don’t game plan for. Those are things we can fix in the regular season.”
Edwards said he was particularly pleased with the play of the offense line, which consisted of M.J. Thomas, Campbell Vaughn, Nathan Hitt, Peyton Orr and Parker Blaylock. Edwards also noted some other standouts on offense in running backs Preston Perkins, Tra McComb and Abraham Hodges. At wide receiver, Edwards said Jalan Potts, Camron Culpepper and Day Day Brown all had good games while quarterback Edwin Herard made some good plays while M.J. Thomas stood out on the defensive line.
Edwards said conditioning and the weight room will be a key this summer.
“I think the biggest thing for us is we have to get conditioned,” Edwards said. “I think we are going to be very aggressive on both sides of the football. This is the most aggressive group we have had since I have been here. We are just going to be thin. We have to stay healthy but I really like this group.”
Edwards said the Eagles will begin lifting weights on May 29.
