Playing his starters for only a handful of series, Washington School head football coach Greg Wallace made sure that every player who suited up for him at last Friday’s jamboree at North Delta School got a chance to play.
Still, Wallace said he still learned quite a bit from the two scrimmages against Lee Academy and Marshall Academy. It’s knowledge that will help him and his Generals as they prepare for their first game of the season this Friday night at Centreville Academy.
Wallace has always been a coach who likes to throw the ball and play fast, he said. And, last Friday night, Wallace saw more evidence that he might just have the skilled players needed to help his Generals have a successful aerial attack this season. On Friday, Wallace saw General receivers like Aidan Jones, Patrick Spencer, Noah Ashley and Briggs Staples step into their roles and make a number of fine plays.
“We love to throw the ball, and we have been fortunate to have had the players to do that over the last few years I have been coaching,” Coach Wallace said. “We think we have the players to have a good passing attack this season. We want to play fast, and we want to play physical. If we can do that, we can create many opportunities for success.”
Making the passes for the Generals this season will be junior quarterback Joseph Smith, who Wallace said made a number of good reads during Friday’s scrimmages.
Protecting Smith this season will be an offensive line with only one returning starter in senior Reed Howe. Senior running back Kell Hodges looks to get the bulk of the carries behind the young line.
Given the uncertainty surrounding all high school football teams this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wallace said each practice this week will be extremely important in preparation for their first game of the season Friday night.
Coach Wallace called Centreville a good, well-coached team and the game should be a good opening test for his 2020 squad. A year after falling to St. Joseph Catholic School in the MAIS Class 2A state championship, the Centreville Academy Tigers finished last season with a 5-7 record.
Centreville’s longtime coach is Bill Hurst who has 401 wins in his illustrious career.
Hurst has won state championships at the Class A, AA and AA level of MAIS, winning a total of nine titles, the first one in 1976 and the last in 2014.
