The countdown to kickoff is on!
The countdown to kickoff is on!
By Victor Parkins
Milan’s first tune-up last Friday night left head coach Jeff Morris with mixed emotions.
His Bulldogs tied 5A Henry County with one touchdown apiece and he saw improvement from his team. But Morris said the spirit of the night was dampened when senior defensive tackle Jack Fisher went down with a knee injury early in the scrimmage. Fisher missed last season with a torn ACL. His brother, Lucas, is a senior offensive lineman for the Bulldogs.
“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed and hoping he’s okay,” Coach Morris said early Monday morning awaiting news about Jack. “It’s not just about football. We could be talking about surgery, crutches and another year of not being a normal, active kid,” he said.
The Bulldogs battled Henry County for an hour and a half with no score. Milan finally got on the board after Anthony Ballard crashed across the goal line from the 2. The score was set up when Lamartez Brooks made an incredible 30-yard catch from Taylor Lockhart.
Henry County scored on the ensuing possession before a lightening storm ended the scrimmage early.
“We held our own against a really good football team,” Morris noted. “We saw more good things than bad things but there’s a lot of things we need to touch up on. We had some unforced errors but nothing we can’t fix,” he added.
More than anything, the Bulldog coach said his boys gave a very good effort and held up well in the heat.
“I was happy with how conditioned we were out there, and we played physical football against a pretty nasty offensive line. We tackled well too. All in all it was a pretty even scrimmage,” he said.
Another disappointment for Morris was the weather that chased both teams off the field.
“The plan was to work every single kid on the team and that was disappointing.”
Milan’s final pre-season scrimmage will be this Saturday at Mayfield, Ky. at 6:30 p.m. The Dogs will play in the Henry County Jamboree in Paris on Aug. 12.
MHS opens the 2016 season at home against Trenton Peabody.