Flyers battle Keystone, heat in scrimmage

NORWALK — Two consistent winners were tested by each other and the conditions Friday night. Visiting Keystone and host St. Paul met in a practice football scrimmage on the hot turf at Contractors Stadium. The Flyers scored three touchdowns, and the Wildcats found the end zone twice in a format that saw each team get four series of 10 plays. "I think we started off slow across the board, but I really felt as it went, we continued to improve and correct things," St. Paul head coach Chris Doughty said. "I was really happy with our aggression on defense. There were some holes and things, but that is a big part of why you have these scrimmages. "We still have two weeks to continue to fix our mistakes and work on things, but our defense attacked really well and caused some fumbles," he added. "I was really happy with the way Nate Sandor played. He continues to be developing into a really strong leader for us, and he flew to the football tonight." On offense, the Flyers got a touchdown run from senior Nick Pocos after he broke several tackles and cut up the left sideline from inside the Keystone 40-yard line. Senior Landon Fries then caught a TD pass from Grant Kuhnle and later added a short TD run. "Our offense made good improvements throughout the scrimmage," Doughty said. "A lot of things in that first series of 10 plays, whether it was a mistake by a running back or a lineman or whoever, we made those mistakes early — but they were corrected. "Maybe not perfectly, but a lot closer toward the end of the scrimmage than the beginning," he added. "A big focus across the board with our offensive line is controlling what we can control. And in practice, we can control our effort, foot speed, and pad level." Doughty said it doesn't matter if it's the scout team in practice or a team like Keystone. "We have complete control over those things in practice, and we need to embrace that a little more with our technique," he said. "We have to be a little bit more on top of that with controlling our bodies and not so much worrying about what our scout team is giving across from us. "I think the overall theme tonight was growth from start to finish, and that's all you can ask for." St. Paul two-a-day practices start at 6 a.m., and Doughty also noted Friday was the first time his players were in the peak afternoon heat. "We didn't handle the elements real well early," he said. "That hits a little different and is shocking to the body on the hot turf that first time. But again, we moved forward. "The kids settled in and went to work and were able to put the ball in the end zone three times, and then we put together some stops on defense." St. Paul will head to Mohawk for a 6:30 p.m. one-half scrimmage under regular game rules on Thursday (Aug. 14). From there, it will shift to game mode as the Flyers host Port Clinton in the season opener on Aug. 23. "Our mindset fully shifts," Doughty said. "(Saturday) we will do an hour of practice and technique in the morning, and they will all be on things from today that we want to work on. But we'll hit the reset button on Monday, and our focus is fully on Mohawk. "That has to be where our mindset is. Attack the opponent in front of you and continue to get better for Week 1."