Another early start for Western in scrimmage

COLLINS — The earlier the better. As the ever-evolving preseason schedule has undergone changes in recent years, that has proved to be the case for the Western Reserve football team. The Roughriders had just two official practices on Aug. 1 and Aug. 3 before they hosted Firelands and Galion Northmor for a practice scrimmage on Tuesday at Bachelder Field. Schools can have up to 13 days of practice without pads during the summer, beginning May 15. An additional five days are permitted starting on July 15 for schools to complete the mandatory five-day acclimatization period. Aside from the annual Weisenberger & Pickett 7-on-7 the program hosts, which fell on July 23, it's already been a bit repetitive for head coach Ty Stevenson and his team. "Since July 15, you have been practicing against your own team in shoulder pads," he said. "So we get so much work in July now that it's nice to see a different team early in the week like this." Instead of six or seven days between scrimmages, the Roughriders instead have nine days before visiting Keystone at 6 p.m. on Aug. 13. "This way we get a good five or six practices (before our next scrimmage) to work on the things we found (Tuesday night) that your scout team might not have exposed." As for the results against the Golden Knights and Falcons, it went about as Stevenson expected. Western graduated all of its main wide receivers, a multi-year starting quarterback, and the majority of its interior lines. But running backs Landyn Wiegel (1,202 yards, 26 touchdowns) and Cooper Roe (312 yards, 3 TDs) are back, and that showed on Tuesday. "I thought we had some good spots for a first scrimmage and some spots where we really need to get better in the next couple of weeks," Stevenson said. "I'm really proud of the way our two returning backs ran the football, and I thought at times our offensive line blocked really well for them." Roe also led Western in tackles last season and had two interceptions. Wiegel, Austin Kolb, and Tyler Cooper are also going to be key returners as far as 2025 statistics. "Consistency is the thing we are going to have to make sure we improve upon," Stevenson said. "We need to work on having bigger gaps between our breakdowns to be able to put together successful drives on offense. "And it's kind of the same thing on defense. Just making sure we are aligned correctly and doing our job each play." The Roughriders finished with a 9-3 record last season. They fell only to Margaretta (9-2) and Monroeville (9-3) during the regular season, then scored a big road playoff win at Bluffton (8-3) before falling to Division VI state runner-up Hopewell-Loudon (13-2). Firelands was 4-6 last season, and Northmor was 6-4. The Knights were 14-1 and in the state semifinals in 2024. Next week's scrimmage opponent, Keystone, was also a 6-4 team a year ago and is typically a consistent winner in recent years. The Roughriders open the season with a home game against Wellington before again hosting Margaretta in Week 2. A trip to Wayne County to take on Northwestern in West Salem in Week 3 replaces Bucyrus Wynford after three seasons. Western lost at Northwestern in the first round of the 2022 Div. VI state playoffs. The Riders open Firelands Conference play this season on Sept. 11 at Mapleton.