2023 Spring Review: York Cougars
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YORK | York head coach Dean Boyd has plenty of young talent to work with on both offense and defense, with a lot of guys playing both ways. The Cougars wrapped up spring practice with a two half, 20-minute scrimmage…
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Continue ReadingYORK | York head coach Dean Boyd has plenty of young talent to work with on both offense and defense, with a lot of guys playing both ways. The Cougars wrapped up spring practice with a two half, 20-minute scrimmage on Friday night.
Here are our notes from the session:
Offense
- Zadarrius Carter scored a touchdown on a vertical route on the first play from scrimmage, with a beautiful throw from quarterback Triston Bennett. Boyd told us during the scrimmage that Carter will “be tough to bring down” in 2023. That was evident as he fought for extra yardage.
- Anthony Wherry caught our eye early with his ability to run hard and with power in the hole. The same can be said for Dalton Russell Dalton Russell 5'9" | 165 lbs | LB York | 2024 State SC , as he looked like a bowling ball at his position. He scored a touchdown, exploding through the hole with good pad level.
- Debo Hall Debo Hall 5'11" | 185 lbs | DB York | 2024 State SC recorded a touchdown reception from Ayden Davis Ayden Davis 6'0" | 170 lbs | QB York | 2024 State SC early on in the session on a quick slant.
- Speaking of Ayden Davis Ayden Davis 6'0" | 170 lbs | QB York | 2024 State SC , when we say he was everywhere on the field during the Cougars’ scrimmage, he was everywhere. He showed off his ability to run on several read option plays. We expect Davis to be a threat wherever the Cougars need him in 2023. He nearly had an interception, lined up at wide receiver and got up field quickly for extra yards and took a few snaps at running back as he scored on a long run towards the end of the session.
“We’re going to give him the opportunity to play defensive back, play receiver and play quarterback. I think he’s one of the best players on our team. College coaches have not made an offer to him yet and a lot of it is they haven’t seen him play other positions because they feel like he’s going to play another position in college and that’s probably so. I think he can play quarterback in college but he can play another number of positions because he’s such a great athlete. I’m looking forward to seeing him all over the place. I’m looking forward to using him as an athlete type guy,” York coach Dean Boyd on Davis.
- Keep an eye on Jaxon Graham heading into the fall from his wide receiver spot. He made an excellent catch over the middle from Bennett. He’s quicker than you may realize. Boyd called him “sneaky fast” when we spoke in the post game interview.
Defense
- Dalton Russell Dalton Russell 5'9" | 165 lbs | LB York | 2024 State SC brought the same energy from what he did on offense to the defensive side of the ball. He made a nice tackle in the hole on an inside running play early on in the session.
- Caiden White rallied quickly on a flanker screen to the right to defeat blocks and made a solid tackle. The same can be said for Carter Sigmon, only this time it was against the inside run before the back could get going.
- Bryson Steele recognized a running back swing pass and cut off the back before he could get any momentum and get up field to end the first half.
- Kyreek Love nearly had an interception in the second half of play. He’s a guy that lined up and played some running back and made a good catch and run. Keep an eye on him as we head into the fall.
- Ziggy Byers recorded a pick six late near the end of the session.
- Ben Mode forced a run play back inside where the rest of the defensive line was able to make a play and limit the play to a short gain.
Reaction and Looking Ahead
York coach Dean Boyd was pleased with what he saw, but knows there is more work to be done this summer.
“In the spring, especially when you water down the teams and some teams have a little bit better players than the other team because you try to make it an even draft but it’s never going to be even. But I’m really pleased with our effort tonight. I was pleased with our enthusiasm, how hard we worked and everything we did out here. We got some things we’ve got to do different and we got to get better at but that’s what summer’s for,”
“We have got to get mentally tough but the other thing we gotta do is, we’ve got to get the fundamentals down. We got to get the little technique stuff down. We got a bunch of plays in and we got a lot of things done this spring but the technique stuff is where we need a lot of work. The little things that make a big difference and we talk about it in film with them and they see it and now I think we take this film tonight and we break it down for them and show them and we just start trying to solidify people in positions and getting those little intricate details right. If we can do that, we’ve got a chance to have a pretty good football team,” Boyd said.
York opens the 2023 season on the road against Nation Ford on August 25.