Scrimmage schedule
Thursday
Northwood vs. Parkway, 6
Haughton at North DeSoto, 6
Plain Dealing at BTW, 5:30
Friday
North Webster at Benton, 6
Airline at Alexandria, 6
Bossier at Red River, 6
With no jamboree, parish coaches will get one chance to see their teams in game-type situations before next week’s season openers.
All six teams are participating in scrimmages Thursday and Friday.
Scrimmages have a variety of formats. For instance, the Parkway-Northwood scrimmage teams will feature two “live” quarters following an hour of “controlled” play during which teams run a series of plays.
Teams across the state have been have been going through preseason drills since Aug. 10 with restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID. They’ve only been allowed to have full contact practices since Sept. 10.
During the scrimmages, coaches will be taking a close look at new starters and how they mesh with the returning players. Scrimmages give coaches an idea of what needs tweaking heading into the season openers.
Three scrimmages are scheduled for Thursday and three for Friday.
The Parkway-Northwood scrimmage set for Thursday has been moved from Preston Crownover Stadium to Bossier’s Memorial Stadium, which has an artificial turf field.
Also Thursday, Haughton heads to Stonewall to take on North DeSoto and Plain Dealing is at Booker T. Washington.
On Friday, Benton hosts North Webster, Airline visits Alexandria and Bossier travels to Coushatta to face Red River.
As far as spectators are concerned, the scrimmages held in Bossier Parish will follow the rules for regular-season games. Attendance is limited to 25 percent of stadium capacity.
The Parkway-Northwood scrimmage features new head coaches for both teams, Austin Brown at Northwood and Coy Brotherton at Parkway.
The Falcons, who went 9-3 last season, return senior running back Terrence Cook, a first-team All-District 1-4A West selection last year.
Parkway is coming off a 4-6 season.
Haughton faces a North DeSoto team that went 4-5 last season. Bucs coach Jason Brotherton, whose team went 11-3 in 2019, will be evaluating an offense with new starters in the backfield and at receiver.
Plain Dealing has a new head coach in Christopher Wilson. The Lions, who went 5-6 last season, also have a new quarterback in Braeden Sterling.
BTW will be looking for improvement after last season’s 2-8 campaign.
North Webster, Benton’s opponent, went 4-7 last season. Benton has a wealth of experience returning from last year’s 5-6 squad that competed in District 1-5A for the first time.
The Airline-Alexandria scrimmage matches teams coming off outstanding seasons. The Vikings went 10-3, reaching the 5A quarterfinals. The Trojans went 10-2 and were upset in the second round by Mandeville 13-12.
Alexandria features 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end Shield Taylor, a Stanford commit.
Bossier faces a Red River team that went 6-6 last season.
Bearkats coach Michael Concilio will get a chance to see how his new running backs perform in the Wing-T.
