It would be hard to find a high school football coach that says passing leagues are one of the better ways you can go about making a football team better. But what they do provide is a chance to not go up against your own team day-in, day-out; if you’re going to be in helmets and t-shirts, might as well go up against someone else.

Beech did just that last week when it traveled to Hartsville to participate in Trousdale County’s round-robin passing day. And the Buccaneers got one more crack at a passing day before full-pads practices begin on Monday when they played host to Trousdale County, Whites Creek and White House-Heritage on Thursday night for a three-way passing day as the final tune-up.

“We just wanted to get against somebody other than ourselves and have a chance to compete,” Buccaneers coach Anthony Crabtree said. “It’s about competing, seeing if your kids have picked up and learned what to do when you had practice then getting to go with someone else.”

But the passing days may provide a little bit of help for a team that is in search of a starting quarterback and working in a new group of receivers.

The quarterback battle in fall camp will be between returning starter Lincoln Kenitzer and Parker Henry. However, Crabtree said the Bucs might go with both this season. So while 7-on-7 might not represent real football it does give both Kenitzer and Henry more reps at the position to work on steps, technique, timing and reads.

“Quarterback wise we had only been able to practice four days (before going to Trousdale). I felt like everything went OK. I didn’t feel like our quarterbacks threw the ball particularly well. I felt like we threw the ball probably better in practice (this week) then we did at the 7-on-7 at Trousdale. That comes with time and reps.”

The team also returns just one starting receiver in Alec Meadows at the Z and is looking for someone to emerge in the X spot.

“I thought our kids competed,” Crabtree said of the visit to Hartsville. “I was pleasantly surprised with as much stuff as we tried to put in they knew where to lineup and for the most part, knew what routes to run. Just knowing what to do was the biggest thing we were looking for at that point.”

Beech gets its first 11-on-11 scrimmage Aug. 2 when it travels to Oakland. Hendersonville also plays its first 11-on-11 scrimmage next week when the Commandos travel to Antioch.

— Corby A. Yarbrough, Sports Editor
@Corby_Yarbrough on Twitter
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Photo by Phil Stauder l THE STANDARD
Beech's Lincoln Kenitzer drops back to pass during the round-robin passing day at Trousdale County last week.