Marble Falls faces Kerrville Tivy in final scrimmage

Marble Falls High School junior quarterback Robert Atkinson looks for an open teammate as junior offensive lineman blocks during the scrimmage against Brownwood on Aug. 15. Photo by Diana Cox
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — The Marble Falls High School football team travels to face Kerrville Tivy on Aug. 21 in a final scrimmage before the regular season starts next week.
Freshmen take the field at 4 p.m. followed by the junior varsity at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity at 7 p.m. All scrimmages are at Antler Stadium, located at Stadium and Holdsworth drives in Kerrville.
“They have a lot of kids back from last year,” Mustangs offensive coordinator Robbie Coplin said about Tivy. “It’ll be a good test for us.”
Marble Falls coaches have a list of positions they will be watching. At the top of the list is quarterback with juniors Cade Cool and Robert Atkinson taking snaps.
Coplin said head coach Matt Green, who serves as the quarterbacks coach, wants to see quarterbacks tell teammates if they’re lined up wrong, make good decisions with the football and distribute the ball to the correct teammate.
“If something’s not there, it’s OK to tuck the ball and run or throw the ball out of bounds,” he said.
Since the Mustangs want to snap the ball by the time the play clock hits 25 seconds, getting a delay a game penalty isn’t much of a worry, he added.
And there’s an advantage to hurrying to the line of scrimmage, the coordinator said.
“It gives the quarterback more time to see the defense lined up,” he said. “If there are any checks, it gives him time to do that and make the right decision.”
The offensive pace against Brownwood last week was slower than what the offense calls for, he said. But that’s not unusual since Cool has had very few snaps as the varsity quarterback and Atkinson hasn’t had any. In addition, the entire offense hasn’t been installed yet, Coplin said.
The Mustangs also will have a new starting running back this season in juniors Sam Harkins and Dalton Mayberry.
“It’s new to Sam. He’s starting to see it a lot better,” Coplin said. “Our offensive line is improving every day. Sam is seeing the hole better. It helps with their experience.”
One of the points of attack for most players will be blocking, the coordinator said. That’s hard to gauge against a practice squad, he said.
Marble Falls scored only one time against Brownwood but was able to move the ball against the Lions. Coplin said it’s important the Mustangs have more drives that end in scores as opposed to stalling out.
Tivy will mirror more of the teams in District 25-5A than Brownwood did. So coaches are curious about the way the Mustangs’ defense will perform.
“I really am encouraged about how we are defending,” Coplin said. “Last week, they did some good things technique-wise.”
The coordinator said the Mustangs are looking forward to playing and discovering more about themselves.
“We’ll know a lot more about who we are and how much improvement we’re making,” he said. “There’s always improvement you can make. It’ll be a really good gauge.”
The Mustangs begin the regular season at Burnet on Aug. 28 with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Bulldog Field, 1000 The Green Mile.
jfierro@thepicayune.com