Coach pleased by 'great effort' in scrimmage
August 8, 2010

By DAVID CLAYBOURN
Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE -- It was blistering hot on the artificial turf at T.A. “Cotton” Ford Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

But that didn’t stop the Greenville Lions from giving what their new head coach Chawn Cooper called “great effort” during an intrasquad football scrimmage.

“The main thing was we had great attitudes and great effort,” said Cooper. “Everything else we can fix. It’s pretty hot. They handled it well but we didn’t go very long.”

With the air temperature up to 102 degrees and temperatures on the field much hotter than that, Cooper and his coaching staff opted to limit the varsity, junior varsity and freshmen to about 30 plays each.

“We saw what we needed to see,” said Cooper. “Which ones of our dogs will bite and which ones still need to grow some teeth.”

The Lions’ top offense took the ball 70 yards on one scoring drive, mixing the running of tailback Antwoine Burley, a 200-pound senior, with the running of fullback Austin Martin. Burley got the drive moving with a 20-yard burst. Martin topped off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Greenville’s second offense also drove 70 yards for a touchdown. Running back Tony Rios finished that drive with an 8-yard touchdown scamper.

Jeffro Davis operated the first offense from the quarterback position and Rains transfer Shay Sellers ran the second offense. Davis backed up Alton Dennis last season, completing 10 of 16 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns.

Burley rushed for 43 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries last season.

“We’ve got some good runners and some good hitters,” said Cooper.

The Lion defense, which is working under new coordinator Darren Hylander, didn’t show everything it can do, according to Cooper.

“Defensively, we wouldn’t let them line up in anything but our base defense,” he said.

All in all, the Lions had a great first week of practice, Cooper said.

“Couldn’t ask anything better from the kids or the community,” he said. “Very blessed to be back.”

Cooper, who coached the last couple of seasons in Caddo Mills, is back with the Lions for his third stint as a coach, but the first one as head coach and athletic director.

The Lions are preparing for their season opener at home on Aug. 27 against Little Elm.