FULL CONTACT: Brownstown Central football holds red/black scrimmage

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BROWNSTOWN

While the scenery for the annual intrasquad scrimmage was changed, the fan turnout for the event didn’t decrease.

Patrons lined both sides of the practice field on Friday to get a first look at Brownstown Central High School’s football program in the red/black intrasquad scrimmage.

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On one side, where a new parking lot is under development, fans piled in the back of jeeps and pickup trucks on the gravel to catch some gridiron action.

At center field, a cherry picker filmed the scrimmages, and on the opposite sideline, by the pool, fans had foldout chairs along the perimeter. Other fans stood at the fence facing the road.

“It’s really cool to see what the community does for us,” Braves senior Caleb Bollinger said. “It’s a great feeling to see that people really care and want to come out and watch.”

The varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen all rotated in for reps on the field.

The main objective for the Braves’ coaching staff was to see what is and isn’t working at this point in the preseason.

Position battles are also still taking place.

“We need to see where they are at on film,” Braves coach Reed May said. “This is the first time, since team camp (at Hanover College), where we’ve had live contact. This is the first time they actually hit and tackle somebody.

We also do it for going over the pregame. We do it so that first game we don’t look like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off. It also gives the kids the feeling of being with the crowd. While many of them may have been on the team last year, not all of them started. For the freshman, it’s their first chance to play.

We have great community support. We always have for the last 26 years. It was a tremendous crowd.”

First and second team players intermingled on the evening.

Like many of his teammates, senior Robbie Branaman looked forward to putting the pads back on for contact.

“It’s our first time this summer getting full pads on,” Branaman said. “It gets us ready for the season. We’re really excited. It’s a good anxiousness.”

Brownstown, which has 72 players this year, had every healthy player on the field. The Braves have 27 freshmen this season

“Everyone who was here got to play,” May said. “We always try to make it fairly even teams. Then our JV and freshmen got to play. Everyone probably got to play anywhere from 20 to 30 plays. They all did fine.”

BCHS senior Luke Shelton said that the team is continuing to grow.

“There is a lot of progress going on,” he said. “The defense is getting put together very well. We’re running more plays with more practices. Everything looks a lot cleaner.”

The turf is down on the field at Blevins Memorial Stadium, and crews are finishing up the long-awaited project.

“From my understanding, we will be scrimmaging at Jennings County (on Friday),” May said. “It should be ready for that first C-Team game against Floyd Central (Aug. 18).”

After next week’s scrimmage in North Vernon, the Braves’ varsity team will open at Corydon Central on Aug. 17.

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