Thursday at 6pm in Gretna, Virginia Brookville’s varsity football team scrimmaged Gretna. The Bees came out slow allowing two Gretna touchdowns to Brookville’s none. While the defense was lacking certain players were showing real potential. Freshman Michael Viar filled in the middle linebacker spot for Justin Ware. The freshman got the first tackle of the scrimmage and multiple throughout the scrimmage. 

Daquon Calloway brought a lot of intensity to both sides of the ball. Calloway was targeted twice in the first quarter for two receptions. Daquon has been known to bring intensity to every play. When Calloway was asked what drives him to bring this intensity to each play he said “What drives me is love. Love for this game.” Daquon is not the only player with a love for football. Quarterback Jared Gilinski also says that the team could do better if they just had fun.

Gilinski was another player to do well against Gretna. “It’s supposed to be fun and everyone’s moping.” Gilinski says “We’re gonna find a way to put the fun back in football.”

Having fun on the field may come easier when all players have the opportunity to play. Brookville had six players not play due to injury, including three starting offensive linemen. Ryan North and Jake Frett are among two starters who didn’t play, however for non-injury reasons. 

Defensive end Anothony McDougal sustained a shoulder injury roughly halfway through the scrimmage. The Bees could improve greatly if the plague of injuries heals itself in time.

When asked how injuries affected the team’s play head coach Jonathan Meeks said “A lot. Especially since we’re only in scrimmages. We usually don’t have anybody out right now. That plays a little bit of a role.”

Coach Meeks seemed frustrated with his teams play Thursday. Mental mistakes, penalties, and missing tackles were the main focus. Meeks felt his team was making the same mistakes they tried to improve on from the Salem scrimmage. “We have a lot to improve on. A whole lot. I don’t know how long this thing will record.” is what Coach Meeks said when asked what the team could improve on.

Having some key players back could really help Brookville out on both sides of the ball. The seniors can really help the mental mistakes made because of their experience and the team can benefit from Meeks coaching style.