MCHS scrimmages Hanson Memorial

Morgan City and Hanson Memorial concluded spring practices with a nearly two-hour full pad scrimmage Thursday at Tiger Stadium.
The controlled scrimmage featured 12 plays on offense and defense for the first teamers and an eight-play series for backups. The teams repeated the format three times.
Morgan City’s first-team offense had the scrimmage’s first score when junior running back Jacolbi Francois found the end zone in the team’s first offensive series.
“He got hurt early in the year last season and didn’t play in the last seven games, but he’s going to be a big weapon for us this season,” first-year Morgan City head coach Scott Tregle said. “We have some good running backs, but we are really young on the offensive line and they didn’t stay on their blocks long enough to consistently spring the backs.”
The Tigers had three sophomores starting on the offensive line.
Other Morgan City runners who flashed during the scrimmage were Kevon Marsh and Ethan Scioneaux.
Marsh, a Tiger track standout, scored on a long run during the second half of the scrimmage. Scioneaux also had several nice runs, including a 20-yarder.
“If we work hard and get stronger upfront this summer, we will be able to run the football this fall,” Tregle said.
The Tigers also displayed a successful short passing game.
Jaylen Jones had the highlight catch of the day, holding on to the ball after getting rocked by a Hanson defensive back.
Hanson’s offensive struggled early but improved as the action continued.
“Offense came out a little flat, but they picked it up,” Hanson defensive coordinator Steven Scott said. “We are only going to get better on that side of the ball as we continue to do our work.”
Quarterback Britt Young had a couple strong runs after escaping the pocket, while running back Jeff Soulis ran hard inside.
Young had Hanson’s biggest offensive play, dashing down the sideline on a long run, but he was caught near the goal line by Marsh.
The Tiger’s offense did, however, lose four fumbles.
“We did OK,” Scott said. “We are going to work hard this summer and clean all that stuff up; we’ll be ready to go.”
Defensively, Morgan City didn’t allow a score Thursday. The defense was led by lineman Clifton Escort, who was around the ball all day.
Darian Verdun also had a pass breakup and was solid in run support, while Dezin Young had a sack.
“I was pleased with the defense,” Tregle said. “I think we got tired at the end because we have several guys playing both ways. We have to get them in really good shape this summer.”
Standouts for Hanson on defense included Andrew Luke with several tackles, while Brennan Broussard and Chase Daigle also were active.
“Defense kind of got us going today, but we still have a lot of work to do to be the kind of unit we need in the fall,” Scott said.
One area where Hanson looked the part was on the offensive and defensive lines.
“We have some experience there, and we’ve worked really hard to get bigger, stronger and faster there and I think it’s paying off,” Scott said.
Both teams now will turn their attention to offseason conditioning and 7-on-7 drills.