VALDOSTA —
It was a busy night at the Valdosta State Athletic Fieldhouse. The Blazer soccer and volleyball teams kick started the night with Meet the Blazers and the Blazer football team capped off the night their second scrimmage of the fall.
Football’s scrimmage officially ended the team’s fall camp, as the Blazers begin game preparation for Sept. 1’s season opener against Saginaw Valley State on Sunday.
“This was good for us to get out and have some competition under the lights,” football head coach David Dean said.
The Blazer football team was split into two teams for Friday’s scrimmage. The starting offense and starting defense worked on the white team. Playing on the same team allowed the players to get a feel for game-like situations.
“If the offense was coming off the field, we are not used to guys like Chas Matthews, and all those defensive guys, catching us and telling us ‘good job’ and stuff,” said quarterback Cayden Cochran. “Usually they are jawing at you and telling you how bad you are during practice. So it was cool with them being on the same side as us.”
“Basically, it was a trial run for us,” Dean said. “We wanted to make sure our guys understood what we are going to do in the game — who is going to call the different special teams, make sure our special teams are good. And we wanted to make sure, as coaches, that all our communication lines were good.”
One coaching change that was evident Friday night was the move of co-defensive coordinator Seth Wallace to the booth. Wallace will coach the games from the coaches’ booth so he can better see the secondary, according to Dean.
The Blazer offense scored on its first four possessions of the night, while the defense didn’t allow a touchdown to the black offense until the final possession of the fourth quarter.
Defensively, the performance was a much-improved effort from last week’s scrimmage when the No. 1 offense moved the ball at its will.
“I feel like we came out and had a good game on offense and defense,” linebacker Ryan Smith said. “We are just trying to get the finishing touches so we will be good next week.”
Former Florida State Seminole Greg Reid was featured early in the scrimmage. Reid started on the Blazer defense and returned two punts. The two-time Region 1-AAAAA Player of the Year returned the second punt 49 yards before he was tackled by the punter. Reid left the field with an apparent knee injury and did not return.
Dean wasn’t concerned about the injury.
“I saw him running off the field here at the end,” Dean said. “I think he is fine. It looked like he just took a shot on the knee. I will have to give him a hard time. The punter is who made the tackle on him right there. But I think he is fine.”
Along with Reid, wide receiver Quin Roberson had a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown.
“A lot of it will depend on what we see and what the punt team does,” said Dean about his options at punt returner. “Hopefully, we can get to the point to where it is hard to kick to either one of those guys.”
Cochran finished the night 6 of 7 for 99 yards and a touchdown. The Blazer defense allowed just 150 yards to the black team offense.
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Friday night’s festivities at VSU were started with Meet the Blazers. Over 220 area youth participated in the event held by the soccer and volleyball teams.
“It is so much fun they could all come out,” said senior volleyball captain Katie Onushko. “Just to let them know that we have a volleyball team and they can start coming to our games, because we love having little kids there and we always have fun stuff for them to do there.”
Both the volleyball and soccer teams begin their seasons Aug. 31 at home.But Friday night was all about being with the youth of the community.
“It is a lot of fun,” sophomore soccer goalkeeper Olivia Mills said. “I know they have a lot of fun and it has been an awesome day.”
Local Sports
Related Photos
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Valdosta State goalkeeper Olivia Mills works with local area youth on goal keeping skills during Friday night’s Meet the Blazers event in Valdosta. Ed Hooper | The Valdosta Daily Times
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Greg Reid returns a punt during Friday's football scrimmage. Ed Hooper | The Valdosta Daily Times
Discussion
Blazers hold final scrimmage; Soccer, volleyball hold Meet the Blazers
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