Lancers Take to the Gridiron in Pre-Season Scrimmage

The Cordova High football team began their new season last Saturday against Hiram Johnson High School at Lancer Field. Even though the scrimmage was an unofficial game that has no bearing on their record, you would never be able to tell by the seriousness and intensity of the Lancer’s players.

The Johnson High team is partly responsible for riling up the home team as many fans found their pregame antics to be disrespectful, which gave Cordova extra motivation during their encounter. Coach Perry Mansch topped of the teams’ intensity by barking at them in the huddle to make Johnson “…respect our field, scrimmage or not!”

From the very first whistle to start the game, it became evident that Cordova was out there to handle their business and would not let up until they were finished. On the first drive of the scrimmage the Lancers were on the defensive side of the ball and made their presence known immediately as they drove Johnson back into negative yardage. In fact, the Warriors would not gain a single yard until much later in the game.

Middle linebacker Adam Braithwaite was largely responsible for shutting down Johnson’s running game up the center of the field as he was more than eager to hit anyone running by him in an opposing jersey. Assistant Coach Daniel Ziemer says that Braithwaite is the epitome of what they like to call “smash-mouth football” in which their defensive players are nothing more than lean, mean, tackling machines.

Cordova’s offense was just as impressive. From the first snap of their offensive drive, the Lancer’s rammed the ball down the Warrior’s throats and began their march down field. At this point the frustration on behalf of the Johnson team became evident as one of their players made a blatantly late tackle on one of Cordova’s players. This obviously upset the Lancers but Coach Mansch did a great job of keeping his team in line by reminding them to “keep their heads in the game” and to “not let their emotions take over.”

The Lancer’s answered back from the late hit incident on the very next play by giving the ball to Senior Michael Lindsey who obliged by running the ball over 20 yards for a touchdown.

For the remainder of the scrimmage it went much the same way; Cordova continued to dominate while Johnson’s frustration grew. By the game’s end Johnson had virtually thrown in the towel while the Lancers walked off the field with their heads held high. There was no official score kept for the game but it was obvious who the victors were.

Coach Mansch commented that he was “very pleased with our performance” but also admitted that the team “has a few kinks to work out” before the regular season starts. The Lancers officially begin their season with a home game this Friday September 11th, against Bella Vista. Junior Varsity action starts at 5:30pm and Varsity at 7:30pm. Hope to see you there.

Similar Posts:

None Found

Short URL: http://www.ranchocordovapost.com/?p=5234

Posted by Daniel Rios on Sep 10 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.