By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
MITCHELL – According to Sesame Street – and who would argue with Bert and Ernie? – everyone likes ice cream. According to the Internet – and if it’s on the web, it must be true – there are over 1,000 flavors. Something for every taste.
If the IHSAA sanctioned scrimmage between county rivals Bedford North Lawrence and Mitchell were classified as ice cream, there’s no question which flavor Friday night’s public scripted workout would be labeled. Vanilla. Plain, simple, ordinary. No nuts, no syrup, not even a few sprinkles. Just as basic as it can get.
Of course, as Jerry Seinfeld would clarify, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Even without color and panache, the Stars were a tasteful dessert, scoring eight times during their 37 offensive plays. Most of those came in the red-zone section of the scrimmage, but it was enough to tingle the sweet tooth.
With Memphis Louden throwing three short-range touchdown passes, with a solid running game, with a revamped defense that didn’t allow the Bluejackets into the end zone during the varsity portion of the session, BNL was dominant. But with more than half its roster comprised of freshmen and sophomores, Mitchell got in a few good licks.
From the BNL viewpoint, even with the starting offense on the field for less than half the plays, the scoring came faster than a cone melting on a hot day. During the first series, Louden connected with Piaire Childs for 25 yards, then scampered 23 yards while making a sweet cut-back move. Trace Rynders capped that drive from 16 yards.
Then came the second session, a set of plays from first-and-goal at the 10. The Stars scored six times in rapid-fire succession. Childs burst home from 11 yards. Louden hit Gabe Nelson, Ryker Hughes and Rynders with pinpoint passes, and Brosamle muscled over from 6 yards out. Even the backups got involved when Dayson Kirby found Daxton Short for the final touchdown of the session. Brody Horton added BNL’s final score in the third set of plays.
“The effort was good,” BNL coach Derrick Barker said. “The execution, we had some spots we could have cleaned up, but you’re always going to have that. We had some explosive plays, and we really like to see that.”
BNL’s projected starting lineup took only 17 snaps, so judgment was a little difficult with so little of a sample size. What stood out was Brosamle’s return (after suffering a season-ending injury last season) to supercharge the running game. He finished with 48 yards. The Stars (adding Cal Gates and Childs into the mix) will be deep at that position.
“I feel good about our running backs,” Barker said. “I wouldn’t call it a three-headed monster yet, they still have to get to that level. But it gives us versatility. That’s the strength of our team that I’ve seen. We have lot of guys that are good at more than one thing and can be useful in multiple areas.”
On the flip side, BNL’s defense forced a fumble (recovered by Luke Morris) and picked off a pass (Short). That unit allowed only minus-5 rushing yards (including three sacks) and pitched a shutout.
“Defensively we played pretty well,” Barker said. “We have some guys on offense, they’ve been doing it for a few years. Defensively is where we are replacing a lot of guys, so they needed some extra reps to play themselves into shape.”
What about Mitchell? The Bluejackets used only six plays and two formations, so that’s about as vanilla as possible. Second-year coach Kevin Kling saw a lot of positives.
“Much better than last year,” he said. “We still have a lot of things to work on, but we came off the field knowing we made huge strides. The offseason work has been impressive. I think we have the pieces in place to be a lot better than we were last year.”
There were bright spots. Senior quarterback Ethan Turner hit Ashton Luman was back-to-back passes during the first set (which consisted of 15 plays, starting at the 35-yard line), and Blake King caught a 25-yard bomb from fellow freshman Cam Gilstrap on the final play of the varsity session. The kids were alright.
“They stayed composed,” Kling said. “They didn’t seem like the moment was too big for them. They hung around and fought. That’s all you can ask.”
Both teams will now focus on the season opener. BNL will visit Martinsville next week, while the Bluejackets will journey to Edgewood.
