County teams compete in spring football
By Bart Moss / For the FCT
Phil Campbell, Vina and Hatton squared off in a spring football jamboree May 15 at Vina High School.
Each varsity team played the other for one full quarter with under normal football rules. The only exception was no live special teams play (punting or kicking).
Very little can be learned about how a team will perform in the fall from a Spring jamboree. However, spring games do give coaches a chance to evaluate players and find out they handle adversity under pressure.
For Phil Campbell’s new head football coach, Kevin Barnwell, it gave him a chance to see his personnel in a game situation for the first time.
“I thought it went really well,” said Barnwell. “We have a lot of people committed to the program right now – but, I stress, we have a long way to go before we are where we will need to be in August.”
Barnwell, who was still teaching at Russellville until the end of the year, has had to depend on assistant coaches to do a lot of work in the offseason.
“I can’t say enough about my staff,” said Barnwell. “They have been great helping get kids out to practice and making sure everything is in place when I get there in the afternoon. I’m really looking forward to summer workouts and finding out who wants to play.”
Jason Harris is in his second year as the head coach at Vina, and he is also optimistic about his team going into the summer.
“I thought we had a good spring,” said Harris. “We are definitely stronger and in better shape than we were last fall. We also had some kids to step up and be leaders, which I’m very happy with.
“As far as tonight,” Harris continued, “we put in a new offense this spring. Tonight we just ran some base plays out of a few formations, and I thought the kids ran those very well at times. We still have a long way to go, but these kids have shown me they are willing to work hard and do what it takes to be successful.”
Vina faced off with Hatton in the first quarter of the jamboree. The Red Devils struggled to move the ball against the stiff Hatton defense.
Hatton scored on their first two drives. The first score came on an eight-play drive, and the second was on a 55-yard touchdown pass. Vina was able to stop the Hornets on their final play of the quarter.
The second quarter pitted former area foes Hatton and Phil Campbell. The Bobcats and Hornets matchup was mostly a defensive battle that ended with neither team scoring on the other.
Hatton moved the ball about 25 yards on the first drive, but the Bobcat defense stopped the Hornets on fourth down at the Phil Campbell 38 yard line.
Phil Campbell’s first offensive drive, led by Russellville transfer Luke Barnwell, led to a first down but ended shortly after.
Phil Campbell’s John Randall Smith picked up a big sack, stopping Hatton’s second drive of the quarter. Barnwell picked up a first down on a nice 15-yard run on the Bobcats’ final drive of the quarter.
The final varsity quarter of the night was Phil Campbell versus Vina. The two teams will square off in the regular season next year.
Phil Campbell scored twice in the quarter. Both scores came after Vina fumbles.
Phil Campbell’s first touchdown was a 33-yard pass from Barnwell to Trey Leindecker. The Bobcats’ final score came at the end of the quarter on a 69-yard touchdown pass from Barnwell to Blaine Goodson.
“We ran a base offense tonight,” said Kevin Barnwell. “It’s still early for them with a new offense and new terminology. They are catching on and learning the system. Right now, we are just trying to find out who wants to play and who can play.”
