SWE, North Edgecombe, Princton, Farmville Central, Rose, and host Tarboro put on a good showing tonight at the Tarboro Jamboree. All teams showed flashes that would make any coach optimistic, but I think it was my Cougars that stood out the most. We greatly improved from Wednesday's scrimmage at Greene Central on the defensive side of the ball, and the offense looked as potent as ever. Also looking better was JH Rose, who looked awful at the Greene Central scrimmage as the only 4A team there. Once again the only 4A team in attendance, they lived up to their reputation as one of the top teams in the east. Princeton, on the other hand, a dominant 1A team as of late, did not impress. Their O-line was porous and allowed defenders in the backfield all night. They have a huge RB, but there wasn't much he could do. North Edgecombe's defense held its own against the larger competition all night, but their offense struggled. Tarboro looked...ok. I know it was just practice, but if tonight's action was any indication of what their team will be, then they will not be a juggernaut this year. They will still breeze thru their conference, but they will struggle in their early games. Farmville Central has a huge O-line and will have their way with most teams. The Jaguars weren't great, but they weren't bad by any means either. My own Cougars started out by scoring on the very first play and then held Princeton to 0 first downs in shutting them out 2 tds to 0, got by North Edgecombe 2-1, allowed Rose to score on their first play, only to responded by showing them that we can score on our first play too, in tying them 2-2, and followed that performance with a 1-1 tie against Farmville, for a grand total of 7 touchdowns to 4. I have never been one to say that we will win just because I support the team (I predicted 8-3 last year, getting them all right) but if we get past Holmes in the opener, I can strongly see 11-0. That opener is a doozy though. But you know what???? It's football season!!!! It's finally back! 11-0 or 0-11, this is the best time of the year and it will be fun! Play time is over....it's the real deal now! Good luck.
