A torrential downpour isn't exactly a coach's idea of great game day weather, but sometimes the rain is actually what is needed.
"One reason we were so adamant about playing this game was we wanted to see how we performed in adverse conditions," Liberty County Panther football coach Kirk Warner said of last Friday's scrimmage during Tropical Storm Fay. "One of my biggest worries coming out with the spread gun was can we still throw the ball wet? Could we snap the ball in the gun wet? We answered those questions."
The Panthers had only one turnover in the scrimmage.
It came when Demetrius Stinson lost his grip on the ball in a
pile up.
The coach said playing in the rain is part of the sport and he expects his team to be effective in all weather.
Warner said he was pleased with his No. 1 defense, saying they handed the Wayne County Yellow Jackets negative yardage and were all over the Jackets offense the entire game.
The game also closed some vacancies.
"The good thing about the game was we found plenty of backups that can give us some good minutes," the coach said.
Warner said Roderick Jones had a good game running the ball but added that Jones has to work on blocking and getting open to become a decoy.
The coach was pleased with Julian Stoke's ability to control the offense saying he handled the situation well.
"Stinson ran the ball well and we want to get him involved a little more behind the pass," he said. "The offensive line did better than we expected. They came off the ball well. We had some lapses but that is to be expected. Overall the offense did well."
As the Panthers get ready to open their season at McIntosh Academy Friday night the coach said they are looking to amp up the players based on their current win loss record against the Buccaneers.
"We are working on correcting the mistakes," he said. "Even though we did a lot of good things as coaches we can always find a ton of mistakes. Nothing against Wayne but McIntosh is a different league and we got to tell these players to get ready. We have not beaten them and until we beat them they are a better team than us. We are 0-5 against them and I think that is gnawing at them a little bit."