When Eupora took the field against South Pontotoc on Friday night, 17 of the 22 starters were there for the first time.
In a two-quarter scrimmage against South Pontotoc, the Eagles lost 10-0.
Head coach Stephen Edwards said the Eagles made too many mistakes.
“We had one touchdown called back and we dropped one touchdown pass,” Edwards said. “We had a bunch of penalties. We have got a bunch of different things to work on. We had nine new starters on offense and about seven new starters on defense. We looked at it as a scrimmage. We are trying to find some new faces and see who could do what for us.”
Edwards said he thought the defense played well.
“We didn’t scheme on anything, we worked on us all week,” Edwards said. “That can be tough to defend when you don’t prepare for it. We didn’t blitz an and just played our base defense. I thought Zak Morris had a big hit on defense. We have some things to work on but I thought the defensive line played well overall and that was without our best player there in M.J. Thomas. I thought our linebackers ran to the ball well. We are going to be okay over there.”
Edwards said the Eagles have some things to work on on the offensive side of the ball.
“We have to get rid of the ball quicker,” Edwards said. “We messed up some calls on the offensive line. We have to communicate better up there. We ran the wrong routes a couple of times. We have to get some things shored up. But it takes time and everybody calls it differently. We threw one interception at the goal line. We have to find a way to be more disciplined and not get the penalties at the wrong time.”
The Eagles will hit the road to open the season as they travel to Winona on Friday.
The Tigers, a former division opponent, went 13-1 last year and has one the state’s top players in An’darius Coffey who threw for 1,401 yards and rushed for 1,445 yards. Coffey committed to at Ole Miss this summer where he is expected to be a defensive back. Edwards said Coffey didn’t see many carries on offense for the Tigers against Senatobia but expects to see a heavy dose of the senior quarterback on Friday.
Last week, Winona lost 21-0 to Senatobia.
“We watched them against Senatobia,” Edwards said. “They have an SEC player at quarterback. We will have our hands full stopping him. They do a good job and have a bunch more starters back on defense. They are well coached and have athletes as well. I was at Winona for a year and they do things the right way. They have their kids believing.”
