Fairfield, Pekin scrimmage a success

FAIRFIELD - The high school football season got underway Friday with area teams holding scrimmages.

At Pearl Smith Stadium, Pekin and Fairfield scrimmaged with both teams counting it a success with no serious injuries.

'We were happy with what we saw from our guys,” Fairfield head coach Nate Weaton said. 'The goal of a scrimmage like that is to come away injury free, and we did.”

'I felt our scrimmage went very well,” Pekin head coach Bud Blakely said. 'We were able to look at multiple things we needed to see and ultimately we walked away healthy. I was proud of how our kids played hard and how they handled things.”

Last season, the two teams met at the Parkview Nursing Home before the scrimmage, interacting with the residents there while eating, playing a trivia contest and some other games.

That was not a valid option this year because of the COVID-19 possibilities associated with the elderly.

Last year, Blakely talked to the teams and told them that the ‘win' of the day was the visit to the nursing home. 'I was very impressed with how they handled themselves. It was a great experience for all of us and I hope to continue it.”

Continuing it was not an option this year but the teams did accomplish some things on the football field.

'It was great to host Pekin again this year,” Weaton said. 'Coach Blakely and his team come well prepared, which gives us a great opportunity to evaluate our progress in true ‘gamelike' situations.”

Blakely appreciated those gamelike opportunities.

'Fairfield gave us a look and it was someone else to compete against other than ourselves,” Blakely said. 'Fairfield challenges you with a few different looks and we seemed to be in good shape most of the time.”

Since it is not an actual game, coaches focus on specific things.

'We were able to see what areas we really need to spend more time on and that is the fundamentals and conditioning,” Blakely said. 'Those are the keys for us moving into nondistrict play the next few weeks.”

Pekin opens the season at Central Lee, then is home for Belle Plaine. The first district game is Cardinal at Pekin.

Fairfield hosts Knoxville, then travels to West Burlington for its nondistrict games. The district opener is at home against Mt. Pleasant.

'We wanted to see as many players in different positions and scenarios as we can and we were able to accomplish that,” Weaton said. 'Our staff is excited to get back to work on Monday.”

The scrimmage allows for team to see how a defense or offense will react compared to playing against itself and knowing the basics.

'It was time to find out where we were and we accomplished that,” Blakely said. 'We were able to get different combinations of kids on the field to give ourselves different things to evaluate.”

Both teams and coaches had a positive take-away from the night.

'We feel like the pieces are there, if we are able to put them all together, our guys are going to have success,” Weaton said.

There were no turnovers by our varsity and no false starts,” Blakely said. 'I also thought our defense played well for most of the scrimmage. Getting in the right position is critical and for many new faces on the field. I thought we handled it well.”