No jam for Rams: Scott City opts for scrimmage instead of usual jamboree

Scott City football coach Ronnie Jones does not subscribe to the theory that you have to hit an opposing player or two this week to be ready for next week.

Senior lineman Eric Lutes agrees.

The Rams will not be going to a jamboree tonight, as its first-year coach instead opted for a Thursday night scrimmage billed as "Meet the Rams."

After all of the school's fall activities participants were introduced, the Rams put together about a 30-minute scrimmage dominated by the offense.

"The last couple years at Caruthersville, we were not involved in jamborees as well," Jones said. "We won the district the last two years, so it didn't really have any big impact on our season."

Scott City's recent jamborees have had an effect on the team. Lutes lost most of the last season to an injury in the jamboree at Dexter.

"I was blocking, and a Kennett guy put his helmet into my knee," Lutes said. "It was the play right before I was supposed to come out."

With a torn mediate cruciate ligament in his left knee, Lutes was limited to the last three weeks of the season.

He is not particularly a jamboree fan. "It's just another chance for somebody to get hurt," Lutes said.

"To the best of my knowledge," Jones said, "in the last three years here, there have been some pretty serious injuries in the jamborees."

While it may have been a factor, it wasn't the primary reason Jones decided to have a scrimmage instead of playing in a jamboree, the four-team scrimmages that will take place throughout Missouri tonight as a final preparation for next week's season openers. The former New Madrid County Central head coach, who was the defensive coordinator at Caruthersville the last two years, had other motives.

"The main reason I decided to do that -- and we had to get the administration's blessing -- we're putting in a whole new system," Jones said. "We didn't want to put kids out there that we didn't know for sure if they would be solid in the game plan.

"The kids have been diligent about it, and we're pretty far ahead of schedule."

That made Thursday night's brief scrimmage more of a reward than a workout. With the stands half full of parents and supporters, each football player was introduced to kick off the night's festivities.

"For a lot of these unsung heroes -- the parents -- it's a great opportunity to show that their kids have done some good things, that they're on their way to being productive citizens later on, and that's what it's all about," Jones said. "Football is not the only thing."

But football likely will be on Jones' mind tonight. He said he "probably" would be out watching some football at a jamboree. "I'm sure there will be some football coaches here, too, looking at us," Jones said before Thursday's scrimmage.

What they would have seen was a first-team offense overmatching the defense. Cody Carlyle, who had an 80-yard touchdown run on the second drive of the scrimmage, returns in the backfield with seniors Chris Blankenship and Trey Schlosser. Fellow senior Caleb Estes takes over the quarterback role, and he threw a pass on the first play of the night and capped the opening drive with a TD pass.

"With the new coach, the new program, I'm glad we get extra time to work on the program and get it perfected," Estes said.

While Lutes didn't mind not being at a jamboree this week, he said he will be ready to hit some opposing players next week, when Scott City plays at Malden.

"I've got a lot to make up for from last year," he said.