Warriors travel to Helix for pre-season scrimmage

Fallbrook High School’s football team traveled to Helix High School on August 27 for what was truly a scrimmage and not a game. Not only were scores not kept, but the format of switching possessions after ten plays provided for more of a tune-up rather than actual game conditions and also produced assessments of how players fared against an opponent with unknown play strategies.

“I think we did all right,” said Fallbrook head coach Joe Silvey. “We’re pleased.”

Last year the Warriors finished the regular season with a 2-8 record, including a 1-4 mark in Avocado League play. Fallbrook defeated Rancho Bernardo in the first round of the CIF Division I playoffs before losing to Vista in the quarterfinals. Helix reached the CIF Division II championship game in both 2008 and 2009. “Helix is awfully good,” Silvey said.

The teams practiced punting, punt returns, and placekicking at the end of the scrimmage. For the offensive and defensive plays each possession began on a team’s own 20-yard-line, and a team scoring a touchdown kept the ball with the 20-yard-line becoming the new line of scrimmage. Because possession changed after ten plays rather than after a touchdown, turnover, or failure to make a first down, the offensive and defensive squads had equal competitive opportunities.

Fallbrook scored one touchdown while on offense. “We moved the ball pretty well, had pretty good tempo,” Silvey said. “We were efficient.”

The offensive plays against the Helix defense also showed that the Warriors have room for improvement. “We’ve got to stay on our blocks a little longer,” Silvey said.

Helix’s offensive touchdowns indicated where Fallbrook’s defense needs to make adjustments. “I think we’ve got to play better on the perimeter,” Silvey said.

The format made penalty yardage or success nullified by a penalty irrelevant, but the limited number of yellow flags was encouraging for Silvey and Fallbrook fans. “We’ve been doing a fair amount of kind of game situations in practice against our JV

team,” Silvey said.

Although the special teams plays did not include kickoffs and kickoff returns, the Warriors have also been practicing those over the past three weeks. “We feel like we’ve got a good handle on it,” Silvey said.

This year the Warriors open their season September 3 at home against Clairemont High School. “We’ve got to get going on that,” Silvey said.

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