Football is played in the fall but the foundation for the next season is made during the offseason and that includes spring practice, which for Nease High culminated with the green and gold game on May 16.
Veterans and underclassmen alike took the field at Panther Stadium and put on a show for the fans in attendance who had plenty of reasons to smile with the play on the field from both sides as the White squad defeated the green team 28-21.
“It’s been a great spring, and the competition has been really high day in and day out, which is one of things we stress with our guys,” Drafts said.
Nate Harry proved to be one of the bright spots on the day as the rising senior quarterback had a full day and stuffed the stat sheet, as he threw for three touchdowns, as well as running and catching one.
His receiving touchdown came following a turnover on the final play before halftime as head coach Collin Drafts dug deep in the playbook and brought the crowd to its feet with a designed wide receiver pass back to a wide-open Harry.
Harry was one of five quarterbacks that got playing time during the scrimmage, which included fellow rising seniors John Carragher and Harrison Miller, who is a transfer from Creekside High, and rising juniors Derek Hardie and Mason Bacchus.
“It’s going to be a very tough decision because we have three rising seniors who are very capable and we’ve tried to split those reps up evenly this spring, but we’ve also got two promising rising juniors,” Drafts said. “I’m sure the quarterback battle will continue through the summertime but by the time we get to week one, we’ll know who our guy’s going to be.”
No matter who wins the starting job, they will have plenty of weapons to throw to on the outside and the potential for a powerful rushing attack as rising junior Enrique Ordonez broke free for some nice runs on the night and scored a touchdown as he showcased a determined and physical style of running.
One of the unique things taking place during the game was that many offensive linemen were also spending snaps along the defensive line.
“O-line is the most important position on the team so we wanted to emphasis this spring teaching multiple players both ways so that we can build depth there,” Drafts said. “When an offensive lineman comes and plays defensive line they can get a different perspective and the same things goes the other way. Those guys have really embraced it and we’re going to need that depth in the fall.”
The defense was the talk of the contest as they stymied the offense and kept it scoreless until into the second quarter.
Rising senior Joe Miracle is back as the anchor of the defense after missing last year due to injury and the return of playmakers such as Jacob Curry and Elisha Luckett III flying around in the secondary.
Luckett made a leaping grab for an interception in the corner of the endzone early in the contest.
