Scott City, Chaffee, St. Vincent and Kelly get jitters out in football jamboree

BENTON, Mo. — When the football touched Braden Cox’s hands, the Scott City senior ran like an animal uncaged — shoulders down, legs churning. But what’s the start of football season if not a license to escape the grind of preseason work and punish some people?

The season won’t officially begin until next week, but some local teams got a chance to, finally, hit someone in a different jersey as Kelly played host to Scott City, St. Vincent and Chaffee in jamboree action Friday night.

Kelly coach Lance Powers talks to his team at the end of the jamboree Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 at Kelly High School. FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com

“I think we were all pretty ready to get out of practice,” Cox said. “You could clearly see we were pretty rough; we were the most physical team out here.

“I wanted to score so bad. I wanted to pound it out. Our O-linemen were getting off the ball like crazy. It was awesome.”

The jamboree format saw each school face off against each of the other participants once, with the offense getting 12 plays, starting at the 40-yard line. When the 12 plays are up, the teams switch sides of the ball.

Scott City needed only three plays in its first scrimmage to find the end zone. Ultimately, the Rams won all three of their matchups, but the night wasn’t about winning and losing. It was about learning. And walking off the field without injuries.

“That’s a win tonight,” Kelly coach Lance Powers said with a smile. “No injuries tonight is a win.”

Powers knows too well the risk factor — he lost a key player to a knee injury in the final rotation of last year’s jamboree.

“That’s why we did some things on offense that were designed to be safe plays — not putting my quarterback in danger, rotating my backs a lot so they’ve got fresh legs and aren’t taking a lot of exposed hits,” Powers said. “But it’s football and it’s a physical game and it’s supposed to be played by young men who are tough, and I’ve got some tough kids.”

St. Vincent's Gabe Naeger carries the ball for a score against Chaffee during the football jamboree Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 at Kelly High School.FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com

The refrain was the same from all of the coaches — the night ended without injury, so everyone went home feeling pretty good about how things went.

“That’s what we talked about,” St. Vincent coach Nathan Rowland said. “Protect yourself, play hard, stay injury free. That is what every single coach goes over.”

Generally speaking, the playbook stayed shut on Friday night and the rotations were heavy, with true starters only getting a portion of the playing time. But the jamboree provided the teams with a way to adjust to the speed and physicality of a real game and expose the kids to some semblance of what Friday night under the lights will be like.

“Obviously it’s the first time some of them have been in a game situation, out of practice, with people here,” Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said. “A lot of them were jittery, especially the young kids. I think it allows them to get the jitters out somewhat and to actually be on a field with people here. “

Scott City handled the evening well, not allowing any points in the three games while scoring twice against St. Vincent, once against Kelly and once against Chaffee.

“I think [coach Jim May] just wants us to get the physical factor, make sure we set the tone early and get after it,” Cox said. “I think we made some mistakes that cost us a little bit, but I think in the end we still won the battles.”

The Indians bounced back from an opening loss to the Rams by connecting on three passing touchdowns against Chaffee, but otherwise didn’t find the end zone. St. Vincent played to a scoreless tie in the final rotation against the hosts.

“I want them to learn the speed of this game, because some of the guys on our team are still learning the speed of this game,” Rowland said. “I thought our first team did very well, but the second and third teams struggled with keeping up with how quick everything happens.”

The Red Devils were kept out of the end zone all night, but Vickery said that the nature of the jamboree — limited play-calling, protecting quarterback Landon Tenkhoff (1,300 rushing yards in 2015) and some missing players — mean he’s not worried about that.

“I thought we were aggressive,” Vickery said. “You know you’re going to make mistakes at this point, but I liked our aggressiveness. … Now, we didn’t play great all the time, but we did play hard and we played physical. I was pretty pleased with the outcome.”

Kelly had only about 20 players active for the jamboree, but Powers liked what he saw from a bevy of young guys and new starters, including his running back rotation and quarterback Christian Worley.

“When we come out for an event like this, obviously you want to do well,” Powers said, “but the big picture is is the kid lined up right and is he executing? It’s all about your alignment, your assignment and your execution. That’s what we’re looking for.”

Chaffee's Breven Yarbro carries the ball against Scott City's Cody Rhyne during the jamboree Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 at Kelly High School.FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com

The Hawks were held scoreless, but also gave up only a lone TD against Scott City.

“The thing with our kids and the program is that we can’t wait for play four, five, six, to suddenly decide, ‘Uh-oh, I better turn my switch on.’ That’s something we’ve been harping on all summer,” Powers said. “Come ready to play, come ready to go. I thought our intensity pregame was really good. We got punched in the mouth a couple of times before we finally woke up and started going.”

Friday night was a learning experience for everyone, from coaches getting a look at their players in an environment much more like a regular Friday night, to players figuring out what it means to line up across someone in a different jersey.

When a Scott City assistant coach paused to explain to a defensive lineman that flushing the quarterback out of the pocket isn’t good enough — he should have swam right instead of left, to contain the QB — it highlighted the night’s emphasis on improvement, not points.

But football was back. As coaches playfully bantered back and forth, tempers flared on the field from time to time and flags few for the occasional illegal hit, it was clear that the season has arrived just in time.

“I think they were sick of hitting each other,” Powers said. “Today’s, what, August 12? So for 11 days they’ve been hitting each other and jacking each other up. I think it was a good day to go hit somebody else.”