From staff reports
Austin —
The new look San Marcos Academy Bears took their new spread offense to battle against the Crusaders' of St. Andrews and started slow, but finished strong in Thursday night’s scrimmage.
The Bears would go 0 for 3 in their first three series, before unleashing their passing attack.
Jonathan Powell threw a 15-yard pass to Brett Mackell, followed by a 33- yard run by Ty Merriweather. Using both quarterbacks during the drive, Aubrey Oswalt scrambled for seven yards followed by a 16-yard scramble by Powell. The Bears wound up driving to the Crusaders’ 12-yard line in an 8-play set.
The Crusaders were looking at Austin Westlake transfer Preston Dewey at quarterback, who made some nice throws. But overall, the Bears’ defense played well behind a constant rush led by Sabas Castillo. SMA’s Austin Hay put his defensive mark on the game with one of the biggest hits of the scrimmage.
SMA’s defense was sturdy throughout, as the Crusaders’ biggest gain of the game was a 40-yard run.
The Bears’ receiving corps of Alex Ashley and Andy Sharp played well and kept the chains rolling for the visiting team.
SMA’s backups also played well with freshman Quarterback Sam Smith and newcomer Richard Smith seeing playing time. Sam Smith looked comfortable considering it was his first game at quarterback and Richard Smith had a nice 13-yard carry against the Crusaders’ defense.
The Bears also displayed a few new trick plays, as Oswalt rolled out on a reverse play and connected with Alex Ashley for a 15-yard gain.
SMA’s punting game also looked good with led by Memo Borrego.
“This was a good learning experience, we showed good effort but we must get tougher mentally,” SMA head coach Les Davis told his team after the game.
Davis also lauded the good play of Brett Mackell, T.J. Smith and Richard Smith.
The Bears open the season Friday on the road versus UIL opponent Medina.
Texans struggle against Giddings
WIMBERLEY — Wimberley head football coach Weldon Nelms wasn’t very pleased with the way his team performed in Thursday night’s scrimmage, even though his Texans weren’t playing with a full deck.
Missing five starters from injuries and various other reasons, Nelms knew his team wasn’t going to dominate Thursday night’s tune-up. So he entered the scrimmage focusing on the consistency of his team’s execution.
He left very disappointed, as Giddings wound up outscoring WHS 6-3.
“We didn’t get after it very well and I wasn’t too pleased with what I saw,” Nelms said. We missed some blocks, missed a number of tackles and had poor execution. We obviously have to get better quick.”
Scoring touchdowns for the Texans were quarterback Brady Lambert and running back Trinity Wilson on runs, while Travis Payton connected with Connor Kothmann for a 15-yard touchdown pass.
The Texans open the season next Friday night with a 7:30 p.m. game at Cuero.
