Westview defense waits for offense to catch up

By KEVIN WEAKS
Press Sports
Westview’s offense improved as the team’s scrimmage with Chester County went on. The Chargers’ defense was pretty good from the very beginning.
The Chargers’ varsity scored three touchdowns while limiting Chester County to one score Saturday morning at Westview’s practice field. The junior varsity and freshman players also saw plenty of action in a session that lasted nearly three hours.
“We did get better. We made some progress on that,” Westview head coach Don Coady said of his squad’s offensive play. “That’s the side of the ball where we have the least experience, so I guess that’s understandable.”
The Chargers had a painfully slow start on offense, going three-and-out three times and losing a fumble once.
“We had way too many mental mistakes and breakdowns, especially on offensive side of the ball,” Coady said. “We have to get better up front. We just have to do a better job blocking people.”
But, it was an Eagle turnover that jump-started Westview’s offense.
Westview recovered a muffed punt and immediately took advantage. Hunter Moore broke off a 28-yard run to get the Chargers inside the 20.
Chester County then jumped offside on a 4th-and-4, and Quan Williams made the Eagles pay with a four-yard touchdown burst to tie the score at one TD apiece.
The Eagles had earlier scored on a 4th-down pass that covered 12 yards.
Turnovers plagued the Eagles much of the morning as Westview’s defense was able to recover several bad handoff exchanges.
“A lot of their turnovers were their problems with exchange, but we did take advantage when we got the chance,” Coady said. “We were able to put the offense in good field position when we got those.”
Chester County then fumbled away three more possessions, setting up the Chargers’ second score with a miscue out of the “wildcat” formation.
Moore scored from a yard out after the Chargers had converted a 4th-and-3 near the goal line.
After one more possession for each offense, the scrimmage was turned over to the jayvee and freshman players.
Westview grabbed two interceptions in junior varsity play, converting one for a score, and then the freshman Chargers scored twice to close out play.
“Every time you work with somebody else, you expose your own weaknesses as much as anything,” Coady said. “We found out today where we are and where we need to be — kind of a progress report. So, it was a good day from that respect.”
With the season-opener against Dresden looming less than two weeks away, Coady is looking for his team to pick up the pace in practice.
“I hope we’ll pick up our intensity and concentrate heavily on correcting the mistakes we made,” the coach said. “We need to make sure we’re practicing at something closer to game speed.”
The regular season opener against Dresden, last year’s Class 2A state runner-up, will kick off Aug. 16 at UT Martin. Published in The WCP 8.7.12

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