Football fans could look at Caldwell County’s scrimmage at Madisonville-North Hopkins Friday night a lot of different ways.
When the Tigers had their starters on the field, the scrimmage was very competitive. But the Maroons’ depth was very evident when the squads went to their benches.
With mostly starters on the field, Caldwell and Madisonville each scored two touchdowns with the Maroons also kicking a field goal late in the scrimmage.
But the Maroons had six other touchdowns when the teams had their reserves in the game. Which means Caldwell will need to focus on building depth as the new season approaches.
Caldwell’s play Friday was highlighted by a one-handed, over-the-shoulder touchdown catch by Tate VanHooser on the initial series of the night.
When the starters came back late in the scrimmage for down-and-distance play, Caldwell put together a solid drive and scored on a touchdown run by quarterback Russ Beshear.
Caldwell, which lost a ton of playmakers off of last year’s 8-4 squad and has a small senior class this season, can take encouragement from being competitive ones-vs.-ones against a Madisonville team that went 10-3 last season and reached the Class 4A 1st Region championship game before falling to Franklin-Simpson 12-10.
Meanwhile, the Maroons played a bunch of players in the opening scrimmage for both schools and figure to challenge for the regional crown again in 2019 with a deep team.
Caldwell will play its final scrimmage next Friday when it travels to Hopkins County Central. Ohio County will also join the Tigers and Storm in a three-team get-together. Action in Mortons Gap is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
The Tigers open the regular season on Friday, Aug. 23, when they host Christian County.
