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Defense
has always been the first word in sports success at Versailles.
Thursday in a 7 on 7 passing
scrimmage, two Versailles defenders broke
up a touchdown pass on a scoring attempt by the Anna Rockets.
CNO
action photos By George Starks
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Miller looking for improvements during
scrimmage
By George Starks
Versailles- Coming off a dismal 3-7 campaign a year ago, Versailles
head coach Adam Miller took his Versailles Tigers into 7 on 7 action
Thursday.
The opponent for Versailles was MAC foe, Anna.
With football season looming, the Tigers started to sharpen their
passing skills but Miller knows it takes more than a passing game.
“This was a learning experience for us,” said Miller. “We have a lot of
open positions out there. We had a lot of different kids at different
positions. Tonight, we were just trying to see who could play where in
an attempt to get our best 11 on the field. We are still trying to get
our running game in place and then we will know what we have.”
With senior quarterback Jace Barga playing an American Legion game, the
signal calling duties were put on the shoulders of junior Jerrod
Niekamp.
“He’s definitely got the tools to be a quarterback,” said Miller. “He’s
putting it all together. He’s got a very strong arm and has put in the
time outside of what’s required to get the starting job. He’s really
starting to establish himself as a quarterback. It’s hard to say if he
will be the starter right now.”
With the way the Tigers were able to move the ball, offense may not be
the big question mark in Versailles.
That question may very well fall on the defense.
On several occasions, Anna receivers were able to get behind the
defense ant catch scoring passes.
On other occasions, the Tiger defenders were able to break up pass
plays, especially those plays to the sidelines.
On plays downfield, that wasn’t the case.
“Anna is a very, very good team. They have a lot of speed and are a
contender for the MAC title,” admitted Miller. “I thought our defense
was pretty solid but we have a lot of open positions there also. So
again, we are trying a lot of different people in different position to
get our best on the field.”
Miller hit on the good, the bad and the ugly from the two hour
scrimmage.
“The good thing about tonight is that we had a chance to look at these
open position and that you’re going to get the competition that’s going
to breed success,” Miller pointed out. “The bad/the ugly is that we’re
going to have some growing pains. Hopefully they’re short and quick and
we get through them. We just have to be patient knowing we are working
with some kids that lack experience. We just hope to improve every
week.”
Versailles will go to Eaton for a third 7 on 7 and will have its first
full scrimmage on Tuesday, August 12 at 10 am at Hole Field.
In that scrimmage, the Tigers will host Brookville.
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Versailles junior Jerrod Niekamp unloads a pass to one of his receivers.
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Adam Miller (center) talks to his players on the field Thursday. Chuck
Runner, tigerballonline@netzero.com
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