ANDERSON, SC — Alcovy’s football team was part of the Lake Hartwell Gridiron Classic on Friday, Aug. 12 hosted by T.L. Hanna High School in South Carolina.
In lieu of a traditional preseason scrimmage, the Tigers competed against T.L. Hanna and Woodmont as part of a jamboree. Alcovy played each team for two quarters apiece as the equivalent of one full game.
Head coach Spencer Fortson highlighted how crucial the preseason jamboree is to his team’s preparation.
“It’s good to have scrimmages like that, because now you’re able to see those things that you need to work on,” Fortson said. “And to point out those things to our guys so they can continue to get better this week.”
Penalties, proper alignments and assignments, better tackling and pursuit to the ball were a few errors that Fortson mentioned upon reflection of the event.
However, he pointed to the team’s fatigue as a commonality among all errors made.
“We need to do more conditioning so we can get the fatigue out of the way and get them into playing shape,” Fortson said. “You can condition and run all day, but it’s a little different when you’re actually playing out there. So, we got to get them in better shape.”
Despite the fatigue of the players, though, there were some highlights Fortson took note of, too.
Offensively, the Tigers had some long, sustaining drives that eclipsed three to four minutes long. In fact, their first drive was nearly seven minutes long. On defense, Alcovy had to adjust to both opponents’ Wing-T offensive attack and did so while playing fast and creating two turnovers.
The special teams’ unit produced a few made field goals, downed punts deep inside opponents’ territory and had deep kickoffs that were covered by the unit, too.
“We had some good things that came from the game that, as a coaching staff, we’ll look to organize and structure,” Fortson said.
This week is officially game week for the Tigers with Lithonia up first for Alcovy to face Friday night at Sharp Stadium.
But, before Alcovy prepares for its season opener, the Tigers will use the preseason jamboree’s footage to help develop their game plan for Friday night.
“We’re going to take it one day at a time,” Fortson said. “We want to get better each day. That’s our mindset and what we’re looking forward to doing. That way, we can go into Friday with a great game plan and put our kids in a situation to be successful for 48 straight minutes.”
