Overall, Gatewood Gators head coach Jeff Ratliff appeared satisfied, if not entirely impressed with his team’s 35-13 win in a pre-season scrimmage against Mount de Sales Academy last Friday night.
“I was proud of the effort tonight. I thought we cleaned up a few things from the first scrimmage and now we’ll look at the film. We’ll go ahead and break it down and there’ll be a few things to fix,” Ratliff said after playing at home in Eatonton. “We’ve got to keep working. I mean, we’re not where we want to be just yet, but I feel good about where we’re at.”
North Carolina commit Evan Bennett scored on the ground to cap off the Gators’ second offensive sequence and Gatewood led 14-0 after the first quarter. Fellow senior Lawson Wooten came up big in the second quarter, scoring back-to-back touchdowns that led to a 35-7 Gatewood advantage at the half.
Both coaches agreed to run the clock for the second half and Ratliff put his second unit on the field for the bulk of the time. The Cavaliers managed the lone score of the half but missed the point-after kick, leading to the 35-13 final.
“Those [first-half] guys are starters for a reason and the other guys are backups for a reason. But man, when the backups come in when you don’t miss a beat, you start getting excited,” Ratliff said. “I thought we got some quality reps right there with that group. So again, I’m looking forward to watching the film and just seeing if it was as good as I thought.”
Still, the coach said he felt like his team lost some of its drive and desire after the half, and it wasn’t entirely because of the change of personnel on the field.
“We were going to go with the number ones with the first series and I made a few subs, but I still predominantly had the number ones. So that’s when I was really getting on to them because mentally in the game of football you never can let up. And I mean, first half I thought we were sharp but when we came out in the second we kind of just blew that,” Ratliff said.
The coach singled out the play of Bennett and Wooten, as well as that of second-year starting quarterback Ames Johnson, who had a good night in the air and on the ground, as well as Ben Brannen, who took over the snaps from Johnson in the second half.
“It was much better than last week (a shutout loss) against Warren County,” Ratliff acknowledged.
He added that the team's biggest problem was its pad level, saying it was "too high." He wanted his players to strike with vengeance off the line of scrimmage but also to get lower when taking hits, which helps avoid injury and can help them stay level.
“Low man’s going to win. So, we need to work on that but our conditioning was a little better. Now we still have to get in shape. I’ve got some guys going both ways and we’re better when they’re on the field, but when they’re gassed and wanting out, we’ve got problems," Ratliff said. “So that’s going to be on us coaches to get them in shape to get them ready. But I was proud of the number two when they went into the first half as true backups. They gave us quality reps there.
"Getting back to the first half (against Mount de Sales), I thought we played well, thought our defense was fast, and the defense went to the ball," he added. "And if we can do that, man, it makes life tough on the other team offensively. Looking forward to it.”
Gatewood has an off week to start the season, but Ratliff said he’ll be in Lyons this Friday to scout the battle of the Crusaders as Trinity Christian visits Robert Toombs Christian Academy. The Gators will open their season on Aug. 25 versus the Trinity Crusaders, on the road in Dublin.
Their first home game comes at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 against Augusta Prep Day.