‘Played hard’
Published 12:03 am Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Escambia County played hard during its spring football game at Flomaton, but the Blue Devils have a lot of work to do this summer, head football coach Rico Jackson said.
ECHS’s varsity squad played three quarters against a scrappy Hurricane team, but lost 20-6. The only touchdown came late in the third quarter with 5 minutes left.
“I thought they played hard,” Jackson said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do this summer, and a lot of work to clean up.”
Jackson said he thought Flomaton did a good job of preparing for the Blue Devils.
“Everything I saw on film is correctable,” he said. “We’ve got to have a great summer of preparation, and get ready.”
Most of the Blue Devils’ offense on the field during the game was run plays; an indicator of what fans will see this fall.
Jackson said he ran plays that normally aren’t run in a typical game because he wanted to see where the players are as far as skill is concerned.
“We’re going to run the ball and play good defense,” he said. “I feel like they’ve had a progressive spring and a good spring.
“I hate it for the kids that we didn’t win the game, but at the end of the day, we’re all 0-0,” he said.
One positive that Jackson can take away from the game is that it was a culmination of eight days of players learning a new offense and defense.
Jackson said there are several areas that need addressing on the team.
“It’s all around the board,” he said. “It starts with us coaches. We’ve got to get the right people in the right spot, and get strong in weight room.”
Jackson added that coaches need to have players lined up in the right spot and know what plays they’re executing.
“All those things are correctable during the summer,” he said.
On the sideline, ECHS had 62 players dressed out for the game, Jackson said.
Jackson said he’s excited about the summer.
