For the first time this fall, the Farmersville football team faced another opponent, scrimmaging Wolfe City at home Aug. 13.

Head coach Randy Barnes said he was proud of what the Farmers showed in the first scrimmage of the season.

“You’re always really concerned about that first one, but I was pleased,” Barnes said. “We’re not really what we need to be, but the kids had success tonight on both sides of the football. We had some big picks, some big pass plays, and a couple of big run plays. We saw everything we needed to see on the offensive and defensive ends. But it’s still a scrimmage, so now we have to build on it. That’s what I told them, that you get to enjoy this for about 30 seconds.”

Farmersville opened the scrimmage with a series of set plays against the Wolves. Bringing out the starting offensive and defensive units, several big plays were made, including an interception by Tre Brewer.

Barnes said he was hoping to see how his team handles a game-type scenario. Playing in front of the home fans, he said he was impressed with their overall effort.

“Biggest thing I’m taking away from [tonight] is how we’re getting our kids to support one another,” Barnes said. “We don’t see their heads go down. We keep our heads up and engaged. The defense has been a big spark for the team, the way coach [Cord] Wood runs it. Offensively, I was pleased with our deep ball rates and our protection. I thought that [both quarterbacks] read the defensive backs really well. I couldn’t be happier right now. When we look at the film, it might be different, but we’ll go from there.”

During the 12-minute live quarter, the Farmers managed to showcase their strength offensively, scoring three times in a 21-7 period. Touchdowns were scored on a pass from EJ Chairez to Colton Harber, a 3-yard run by Chairez and a final touchdown run.

Farmersville also saw several strong looks for their new look bear-front defensive unit. Designed to create pressure on the opposing quarterback, this system uses five defensive lineman, one linebacker and five defensive backs. The defense highlighted its pros and cons in the scrimmage, recording multiple turnovers while also being prone to penalties.

Barnes said that while they still want to limit the mistakes, the defensive scheme proved effective against Wolfe City’s offense.

“We want to create chaos up there,” Barnes said. “We’re going to be in every gap, we’re going to be coming on every play. This defense will run man coverage, and not a ton of high school teams do that. We know we’ll give up a deep pass every once in a while, but we’re not going to react to it. That’s what we’re teaching our kids. We’re going to get more turnovers as you saw in that with our top defense.”

Farmersville travels to Bonham for their final scrimmage of the pre-season Aug. 19. The Farmers open the season at home against Rains Aug. 27.

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By Jackson King * [email protected]