Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

Mustangs Prepare for First Scrimmage

GHS Football

By John English

Contributing Writer

As the Grapevine football team gears up for its first scrimmage of the season, coach Gary Mullins said he has been pleased with what he has seen during two-a-days and anxious to see how that translates to competition.

Grapevine will scrimmage at 10 a.m. tomorrow against the Raiders in Denton at Ryan High School.

"Things are going well," Mullins said. "I have been pleased with what I’ve seen out there in our two-a-day format with the effort and the learning curve. I feel good about what I see up front offensively ... obviously this scrimmage coming up against Ryan with their speed and the type of team they’ve got will help us get started. We can iron out some kinks, and it will be good to hit somebody else for a change."

John Mundy, whom Mullins said "has a good handle on the offense," will get the nod at quarterback on Saturday, and the Grapevine coach said he expects a good competition.

"I think this will be a good measuring stick of what we are capable of at this point," Mullins said. "We don’t have everything in, and we haven’t necessarily intensified everything we have offensively and defensively, but to this point, from a base standpoint, we just have to go out there and execute, see how we match up, and try to go out there and move the ball in the running game."

Mullins said he is also interested in evaluating his team’s mental preparedness for the scrimmage.

Grapevine has a number of question marks heading into the season, especially at the skills positions, but Mullins said his team has looked strong in those areas during two-a-days so far.

"John Christian Ballard at split receiver, who moved in, has really had a steady two-a-days, and may give us an added dynamic there," Mullins said. "Travis Trenkle has looked good, Ted Hull-Ryde inside has looked good. Our tight end situation with Cody Grandstaff is looking good, so we’ve had some good practices so far, and I have been very pleased with that."

Mullins said, overall, two-a-days have been very productive and said he believes his team is about where it needs to be as the scrimmages begin.

"We’re close," Mullins said. "I would like to see us be a little more cohesive on the offensive line, but that’s to be expected at this point, and they are doing some good things. If we can just continue to get better and do well in this first scrimmage, I think we’ll get off to a good start."