The Chester County Eagles continued their summer 7-on-7 schedule last week with their third scrimmage before the TSSAA dead period, hosting Bolivar and showing noticeable improvement from their previous outing against Riverside.
Following the Riverside scrimmage, head coach Dewond Johnson challenged his team to “mature and mature fast” after several blown defensive coverages led to big plays. Just a few days later, Johnson saw encouraging signs that his players responded to the challenge.
“I felt like today we did some things better,” Johnson said after the Bolivar scrimmage. “We were a little bit more consistent today in our coverages, and I thought our effort was better today.”
The Eagles showed better communication on defense while continuing to gain experience on both sides of the ball during the summer passing league competition. Johnson said consistency remains a work in progress but believes the team is taking positive steps forward with each opportunity.
“Everything’s a building stone,” Johnson said. “I was telling our guys we’ve got five practices.”
The coaching staff also installed new defensive coverages during the scrimmage, allowing players to learn concepts that could pay dividends during the regular season.
“We worked on some new coverages that I thought were big for us and are going to help us in the future,” Johnson said. “Offensively, we adjusted and ended up moving the ball consistently. It was a good day.”
The Eagles will face Bolivar once again in their fourth and final 7-on-7 scrimmage before the TSSAA dead period begins on June 22. Johnson hopes the improvements shown last week continue as Chester County builds toward the start of preseason practice later this summer.
