By Michael Lindsay
The Upperman Bees took the field for their first full-contact scrimmage of the preseason Friday evening as they hosted Watertown in Baxter.
Friday’s scrimmage follows a week-long practice and conditioning camp for the Bees.
“We moved these kids into the field house on Sunday night and we’ve done two-a-days and walkthroughs,” said Upperman head coach Adam Caine. “It’s been a grind; it is not cool out here. It was a competitive and tense camp; probably the best one we’ve had since I’ve been here.
“I was concerned what kind of legs we’d have under us, but once we got the juices going, I saw the guys having fun. It wasn’t a grind anymore. Watertown has a good football team and it was exactly what we needed at this point. I saw a lot of good stuff and some stuff we can work on that I can show them on film.”
The Bees had multiple bright spots in their first full scrimmage of the fall.
“Clayton Harris jumped out; he’s tough to handle up front,” said Caine. “He played hard and practiced hard all week. Branson Turnbow’s got another gear to him and he caught a nice deep ball today. Ethan Palk is a solid player on both sides. Ja’Lyric (Cullom) is fighting is way back from surgery and is finding his groove as a running back.”
Friday was another step forward for the Bees’ projected starting quarterback Bronzden Chaffin, a sophomore entering his first year under center.
“He’s done a fantastic job,” Caine added. “He’s a young and a tw0-sport guy. When he’s out here working and locked in, he’s about as good as we’ve seen. At times tonight he showed that. He’s a dual-threat dude and is big enough in the pocket to see things. Last year we were one dimensional, so I’m excited for him.”
Upperman kicks off the regular season on Friday, Aug. 18 as they host Fayetteville.
