By the end of the day, the Herald Democrat's Denison beat writer Jason Della Rosa was enthusiastically giving the Jackets a B+ for their effort on the day.
Denison High School head coach Chad Rogers was equally pleased with his team while admitting there were still a number of things that need ironing out.
"I haven't seen the video yet but I'm proud of the way that we acted out there," said Rogers. "I'm proud of the way that we held our composure and that we were coachable. There's a lot of bright spots from the sidelines but we've got to go watch the video and learn from it."
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| Jackets' QB Chance Rogers warming up prior to the Princeton scrimmage. |
One thing Rogers was grinning about from ear-to-ear was the obvious progress that the Jackets have made from a year ago.
"I'm very, very excited about where we're at right now, mentally and physically," said Rogers. "Of course, we haven't won a game yet, or haven't even played a game yet, but right now we are 10 times further (along) than we were at this time last year after our first scrimmage."
"We've still got a lot of things to work on but we also saw a lot of good things today," he added.
The scrimmage started out with the Jackets' first team offense and defense showing a little bit of early season nerves and a bit of summertime rust.
"I think everybody had nerves early on, us and them," said Rogers. "That's part of having that first scrimmage and getting it over with and hitting on somebody else."
Afterwards, the Jackets got rolling and put on a show all the way to the scrimmage's conclusion on both sides of the ball.
"I think a lot of that has to do with our physical conditioning," said Rogers. "Our kids have been working really hard in the weight room and they got stronger as the game (scrimmage) went on."
With Baylor quarterback/athlete verbal commit Jourdan Blake (the son of John Blake) guiding Princeton on the afternoon, the Denison first-team defense got its chance to make some early noise.
After spending an entire off-season to shore that unit up, the first team DHS defensive unit drew plenty of interest from the vocal Rogers.
Led by Garrett Hestand, Sergio Orona, and Stephon Collins up front, the Jackets D held Princeton to a total of 45 yards on 17 plays with one touchdown being scored on the final play of the initial session. Three of the Panthers 17 plays totaled 73 yards while the other 14 gave Princeton minus-29 yards.
After that lone first-team touchdown, the Jackets D tightened up and generally contained the Panthers' explosive and high-octane offense the rest of the way.
Highly regarded again this season behind Blake's signal calling, Princeton averaged 40.9 points per game a year ago. The Panthers were a 9-1 District 12-3A runner-up to Melissa a year ago and lost in the region semi-finals to Gainesville.
During the initial first-team session of the afternoon, Jackets linebacker Jordan Heath picked off a tip-drill pass. His defensive mates also gave the Jackets D a turnover on downs and a fourth-down stop of Blake who was sacked on fourth-and-one.
While the dangerous Blake did get two or three nice runs early on, the Jackets D adjusted and kept the heavily recruited QB - before his Baylor verbal commitment, Oklahoma State was in the mix too - from making too much noise the rest of the way.
"The official said he was going to blow a quick whistle when he scrambled out because they wanted us to stay off the quarterbacks," said Rogers. "So part of those early runs were my fault because I told our kids to stay off the quarterback.
"There wasn't anything wrong, they were just doing what they were told to do."
As the day went along, and the quick whistles weren't as forthcoming as originally thought, Rogers unleashed his defensive unit to go make plays.
"Those last 20 plays, we just turned them loose and said 'Go tackle him,'" said Rogers. "He's a very talented athlete and we're going to see a lot of them (this year). I mean we better be ready."
During Denison's second session with its first team D on the field, the unit pitched a shut-out while giving up 42 yards on 14 plays.
In the third and final first-team defensive session, Denison held the Panthers to 14 yards on 10 plays with an interception for a touchdown being stopped as the officials blew the whistle to stop the action.
Afterwards, Rogers - who is taking on a much bigger coaching role with the DHS defense this season - was generally well pleased.
He should have been since the first team unit ended the day by allowing a cumulative 37 yards rushing to Princeton on 28 carries. The Jackets held Blake to a 4-of-12 effort through the air for 64 yards and two interceptions.
What about the offense?
The initial first-team offensive session by Denison featured junior quarterback Chance Rogers connecting with a wide-open Jaleel Dade for a 59-yard touchdown pass, catch, and run that was followed by Wade Walters knocking home the extra-point.
Following that TD, Rogers fumbled a snap that was recovered by Princeton. After that miscue, Denison drove to the Princeton 20 yard line before being stopped on a fourth-and-five incompletion.
For the first session, the Jackets O finished with 125 yards and a touchdown on 16-plays.
The rest of the day brought flashes of brilliance that were often enjoyed by some of Denison's most high-powered offensive squads.
Denison earned 140 yards on 10 plays during the second first-team offense session including a 47-yard TD run by senior running back Denard Whitfield who raced to the end zone untouched. Dade got his second touchdown reception of the afternoon when he turned a screen pass into a 47-yard scoring play.
Denison's first team O closed out the day with a fourth touchdown as back-up QB Will Parker guided the squad on a 70-yard scoring drive that was capped by fullback Colton Henslee's two-yard plunge.
For the day, the Jackets' first team O suffered just one turnover while gaining 149 yards rushing on 23 attempts with two touchdowns. Through the air, the Jackets were 9-of-15 for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
Individually, Rogers was 7-of-12 for 173 yards through the air with two touchdown passes while Whitfield led the way on the ground with six carries for 80 yards and a touchdown. Walters was also perfect on the day kicking extra-points.
After the scrimmage, a happy Rogers told his squad that he was pleased with both their effort and the results.
But he quickly and sternly reminded them that one scrimmage under the belt means nothing with a second scrimmage looming against a powerful Wichita Falls Rider squad on the road next week. And that will be followed up with the season opener on the road a week later against highly regarded Frisco Centennial.
"I think we're a work in progress," said Rogers when asked to summarize the afternoon, which also included a 7-for-11, 111 yard, one touchdown passing effort by backup QB Parker and a 12 for 66 yards, two touchdown rushing effort by fullback Colton Henslee.
"Their effort is an A," he said. "Their coach-ability is an A."
On the defensive side, Rogers said there were a couple of blown assignments that factored in to Princeton's lone first-team touchdown and it's two second-team touchdowns on the day.
"We weren't disciplined there, we were looking into the backfield, jumping offsides and such," said the Jackets head man. "That's coaching. We have to make it important because they do what they are coached and told to do. That falls on me and us as coaches."
And the other side of the ball?
"Offensively, I thought we were right where I thought we would be," said Rogers. "We're able to move the ball and make really good decisions."
For its first public appearance of the 2013 season, there was nothing but good vibes at Munson Stadium from players, coaches, fans, and media that assembled to watch.
Hopefully, the day was a sign of good things - and perhaps very good things - yet to come for the Yellow Jackets' football squad this season.
Time will tell.
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