A mixed review was the analysis of Escambia Academy Head Football Coach Hugh Fountain following last Friday’s scrimmage against the Monroe Academy Volunteers.

In the scrimmage, which did not keep score, the Cougars took on their rival showing some good and some bad in their first competition being led by Fountain.

The main concern following the contest was the Cougars’ offensive and defensive lines.

“We have a lot of things we need to work on for sure,” Fountain said. “We didn’t look good up front on both sides of the ball. We didn’t get off of our blocks well. Cameron Murphy did a good job on his pass rushing, but we still need to shed our blocks better. The offensive line has to get better, so we can run the ball well.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cougars showed Fountain some promise taking on the Volunteers tough offense.

The competitive nature of the defense was something that gave Fountain a positive outlook.

“Defensively, I was pleased with our effort,” he said. “There are some things that still need to be worked on on that side of the ball, but I was happy with how hard they played.”

The Cougars offense, on the other hand, left something to be desired for Fountain.

Dropped passes and misfires held the team back from giving Monroe’s defense a push, Fountain said.

“We probably didn’t play as well on offense as we hoped we would,” he said. “We were able to throw the ball, but we had several drops. The biggest disappointment was that we didn’t run the ball like we wanted to. They shut us down up front, so we definitely have to improve before the fall.”

With summer workouts just around the corner, the focus will turn to getting more physical.

Working to get stronger is the first priority before getting started next fall, Fountain said.

“We just have to get back in the weight room,” he said. “Some of our guys are doing a great job and are really strong, but we also have some guys that need to get back in there and work a little harder. The main thing is to keep working to improve. We knew it would be tough against Monroe, but we mainly made small errors that cost us in the scrimmage.”