The Kirksville Tigers controlled play on Friday night at Milan’s Cal Hubbard Field, giving up very little defensively to the smaller schools from the Grand River Conference in the Princeton Tigers, Putnam County Midgets, and Milan Wildcats.
The Putnam County offense scuffled throughout the night, although Carson Quint’s speed was a bright spot against Princeton, able to get him a few yards from the running back position. Calvin Heidenwith played quarterback for the Midgets, and struggled with accuracy. The Midgets defense, hoped to be a strength of the program this fall, showed strong quickness in the jamboree, but matched good moments with struggles.
Princeton’s ground game continues to be a work in progress for rookie Head Coach Thomas Hotmer, as the Tigers struggled to move the football by the running option, however quarterback Andrew Smith completed a pair of long passes, one of Cash Hartley and the other to Calvin Berwanger, over the course of the night. The Princeton run defense struggled, giving up numerous ground yards. Taran Clark had good moments for Princeton, during the JV series for the Tigers, late in the scrimmages.
Milan alternated quarterbacks in the Wildcat scrimmages, with Quinn Doak seeing most of the snaps against Putnam County, and Ryan Dabney getting the snaps against Princeton. Milan’s monstrous defensive front line could easily have been viewed as the best part of the Wildcats night, dominating the line of scrimmage. Jaidyn Watts separated himself as a “player to watch” on both sides of the football for the Wildcats this fall, particularly in leading a strong corps of linebackers.
There was a tremendous amount of youth on the field for Milan, particularly in the offensive line and in the defensive backfield, with their level of play deemed highly important for a successful season for the ‘Cats.
Milan opens the season on Friday night at Mark Twain High School, with coverage beginning at 6 o’clock on KTTN FM 92.3. Princeton will host the Mid-Buchanan Dragons on Friday night in the Tigers season opener.
