Panthers get first taste of action with scrimmage

Saturday's scrimmage was a good first look for Saratoga Panther football, head coach Scott Bokelman said.

"It was good for them to finally get into a game atmosphere," he said. "It's good for them to get those pre-game jitters out of the way."

The Panthers squared off against the Pine Bluff Hornets in a scrimmage. Though no official scores or stats were kept, the Panthers ended the game scoring once, and the Hornets scored three times. Bokelman said he was very optimistic after the scrimmage, but did see some areas where they needed to improve.

Players having self-confidence will be key as the season progresses, Bokelman explained, and the more game they play in, the more confident they will become. Holding the scrimmage was especially beneficial for many of the younger players. Because many players did not have enough practices to play in the scrimmage, Bokelman had to start many underclassmen.

"Our youth definitely showed during the game," Bokelman said.

The Panthers starting offensive line was comprised primarily of underclassmen, and included a freshman center. Bokelman said their inexperience up front led to missed blocking assignments. The team will be working more on blocking fundamentals during this week's practice, and will be working with the line on techniques to use against more experience defensive linemen.

"We will just have to get after it this week," Bokelman said

Bokelman was impressed by his backfield, saying their veteran presence, both running and throwing the football, helped with their success saturday.

Defensively, Bokelman was also impressed with how his team performed, but still have work to do.

"We did not do too bad on defense," he said. "We missed a few tackles, but we will get a little better with experience."

The starting lineup is still a work in progress. Bokelman said there are still no spots locked up, and plans on there being more position battles as the week progresses.

We are going to be shuffling people around a little bit, it's going to open up some spots," Bokelman said. "No one has a position locked up just yet."

Panthers will open up the regular season at home against the Lingle/Fort Laramie Doggers. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m., on Friday at Saratoga Middle/High School football field.