Thursday, April 25, 2024
Tolar High School’s Rattlers struck early and often and denied Trinity Valley the end zone during scrimmage action Friday by not allowing big-play opportunities.
“We didn’t give up any big plays, and we really flew around after the football,” Tolar head coach Jeremy Mullins said. “I was pleased with the effort we gave on both sides of the football.”
While the Rattlers did have a missed blocking assignment here and there and put the ball on the ground once or twice, their overall performance was promising.
“There are some things we are going to need to clean up, but I thought we executed well on offense,” Mullins said.
There are still lots of unanswered questions for Mullins, too.
“We still have 11 spots on both sides of the football that are open for the taking – I mean that,” Mullins said.
Mullins also has the luxury of depth this season with a player ready behind every starter, and it’s given the Rattlers an edginess that can cut its way to a district title. Tolar turned up with 56 players for high school football this season, and Mullins plans to carry 25-30 on the roster.
In addition to having Jackson LeCluyse returning at quarterback, the rattlers have six running backs vying for a starting role, and regardless of who wins the spot, all will be seeing action. LeCluyse’s backup Issac Blessing is also pushing for playing time.
“We have six legitimate running backs, and we are going to use them all,” Mullins said.
Brock Owens, Joseph Arce, Garrison Nation, Peyton Rains, Keaton Morrison, and Hayden Brown (a freshman) have all gotten repetitions out of the backfield.
Lineman Mason Berry was a player noted by Mullins.
“Mason did a great job for us on both sides of the ball, and he’s gotten so much bigger and stronger this year,” Mullins said.
Tolar will get to see how it travels this week as the Rattlers head to Cisco High School Thursday (Aug. 19) to take on the Loboes in a 7 p.m. scrimmage, and Mullins is expecting more improvements.
“We have got to tackle better. It’s still early, but that’s one thing we need to do right away,” Mullins said. “That and we need to improve our pass blocking.”
LeCluyse will undoubtedly be happy with good blocking, and he was pleased with how the Rattlers played against Trinity Valley.
“I think we played better as a team this year, and we were all on the same page on offense,” LeCluyse said. “We are clicking better. It’s been a long two weeks, and it felt good to go out and hit someone else.”
Russell@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066 Ext. 231
