Published: August 29, 2008 02:03 am            

NHS still has work to do

Chad Anderson moved to his right and fired a rocket, right into the middle of the defense.

The ball bounced off both hands of the Putnam City North linebacker, straight up into the air, where Norman High receiver T.J. Thompson snatched it from for a big third-down conversion.

That’s kind of the way things went for the Tigers in their final preseason scrimmage, at least most of the time. There were some great offensive drives during the scrimmage portion, including two scoring drives led by Anderson that culminated in touchdown passes.

There were spectacular plays on defense, like a sack and a fumble recovery by defensive lineman Jack Jewell.

But there were also mistakes.

“I feel like we improved,” NHS coach Greg Nation said. “We got better. We made some mental errors. At times we showed some greatness, and at times we had mental breakdowns. That’s what’s hurting us right now.”

The mental mistakes were numerous. A missed assignment in the defensive backfield here, a false start there.

Add to that some terrible missed tackles, and the Tigers have some buckling down to do before next Thursday’s Crosstown Clash meeting with rival Norman North at Owen Field.

“We kept shooting ourselves in the foot,” Nation said.

Anderson and the other Tiger starting quarterback candidate, Trenton Wright, both had success throwing and running the ball Thursday. But it was Anderson under center during the 20-minute simulated quarter with a running clock.

He was 3-for-4 for 22 yards and an interception, which was tipped up into the air and grabbed by a defensive lineman after a Tiger blocking breakdown.

“He stepped up and made some good reads,” Nation said. “He threw some good balls. We also had some great catches during those times.”

NHS and PC North went back and forth for almost two hours before the teams started their simulated quarter. It was hot and muggy, and it looked like the players might have gotten a bit tired toward the end.

The Tigers let the Panthers roll all over them in the scrimmage’s final series for a 65-yard scoring drive that had three third-down conversions.

“I think there might have been a little fatigue there,” NHS linebacker Zach Ladner said. “But I think we just need to play better.”

Nation agreed about playing better, but disagreed about the fatigue.

“I don’t think we ever got tired,” he said. “We had a breakdown in coverage. We had them several times on third-and-8 or third-and-9, gave up the long pass … We kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

It’s not physical, according to Nation.

But the Tigers need to fix some things before they hit the field with the Timberwolves.

Nation will have them hitting the tapes to see exactly where those mental mistakes occurred.

“We need to refocus, watch film, show them what they did wrong,” he said. “We’ll go over it and over it and over it — repetition.”

Jeff Johncox

366-3535

jjohncox@normantranscript.com

        

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