Bobcats show focus in heat at scrimmage

The Berryville Bobcats’ first live action against an opposing team could be summed up in one word, coach Bryan Hutson said last week.

“Hot,” Hutson said when asked about the Bobcats’ Aug. 16 scrimmage at Hackett, where Berryville’s junior high and high school teams took on Hackett and Yellville-Summit.

“I think the parents said it was 109 degrees in the parking lot when we kicked off,” Hutson said. “They have a brand-new turf field that was hotter than that.”

Berryville’s junior high team played Hackett with neither team scoring in two sets of plays before the Junior Bobcats scored the only touchdown in a full quarter of action.

Berryville’s high school team first took on Yellville-Summit’s defense and then Hackett’s offense for a set number of plays.

“I don’t think anybody scored on anybody,” Hutson said. “I think everybody ran eight plays and nobody scored.”

Berryville then played a quarter against Yellville- Summit.

“We scored and they didn’t,” Hutson said. “I guess you could say we won that. Nobody was really keeping score.”

The Bobcats then played a quarter against Hackett, with each team scoring a touchdown.

“I thought we got in on our two-point conversion but they said we didn’t, so I guess that one ended in a tie,” Hutson said.

Overall, Hutson said he was pleased with the scrimmage.

“It was a good team effort,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff we need to work on. That’s why you have those scrimmages.”

The Bobcats’ effort was good, Hutson said. “You drive two and a half hours to get there, then you get off the bus and it’s that hot,” he said. “For the first ballgame of the year, I thought our kids were focused. And we ask our kids to know multiple positions and they, for the most part, did. I thought effort-wise, the stuff that you can’t coach, was there. And then the stuff that you can coach, we can hopefully correct over the next couple of weeks.”

Berryville will open the season Sept. 2 at West Fork.