Natchitoches Central traditionally scrimmages Pineville High in the final week before jamboree action, and Friday night, the Chiefs got a two-for-one bargain.
Class 3A power Jena, which played in a state championship game last December, had its scrimmage opponent fall through. After a couple of phone calls among the coaches, the Giants joined the Chiefs and Rebels in Turpin Stadium Friday night for a three-way controlled scrimmage.
NCHS had the upper hand in varsity matchups with Jena and Pineville. The Rebels showed they will be much improved as they more than held their own against the Giants.
Chiefs coach Brad Laird will send his squad into game conditions next time, Saturday night at 7 against Leesville in the Battle on the Bricks Jamboree presented by Natchitoches Regional Medical Center.
After reviewing game video with his coaching staff, Laird said NCHS did well and got a lot of beneficial evaluations from the scrimmage competition.
“It was a good scrimmage. It’s always good to line up against another opponent and judge your team from a competitive standpoint in a game environment,” he said. “We were able to get all players, (grades) 9th-12th, live opportunities on film which gives the coaches the ability to evaluate this team.
“We have to be more consistent in our preparation so when we get the live game opportunities we see more consistent execution,” said Laird.
The Chiefs play in Turpin Stadium the next three weekends.
St. Mary’s and Lakeview also had scrimmage competition going into the weekend, with coverage of those competitions coming Tuesday.