Thursday, August 22, 1996

Wylie and Stamford scrimmage Thursday

By MARK WILSON
Staff Writer

STAMFORD - With both teams still searching for answers in several areas, Wylie and Stamford will tangle tonight in the first scrimmage of the 1996 football season.

District 6-3A member Wylie, which has three offensive and three defensive starters returning from its 11-2 season of a year ago, has experienced several problems with minor injuries.

"We've had some kids missing practice with nagging type injuries," said Hugh Sandifer, who is starting his 11th season as the Wylie head coach. "It's hard for them to get any consistency because of the injuries.

"The most obvious thing to do, with a lack of returning starters, is that we need to see guys perform against someone other than themselves. We've got a lot of spots offensively and defensively that are still wide open."

The varsity scrimmage - set for about 7:30 p.m. - will start off with 20 offensive snaps for each first team and each second team, followed by two 12-minute quarters. The teams will probably then do some situational work including punts and goal-line plays, according to Sandifer.

The Wylie and Stamford freshman and junior varsity squads are slated to scrimmage simultaneously at opposite ends of the field starting at 6 p.m.

Among the key Wylie players who may sit out the scrimmage with minor injuries are linebacker Aaron Calhoun, offensive tackle Brad Stephenson and defensive tackle Kevin Cornelius.

Stamford, a member of District 7-2A, has four defensive and three offensive starters back from an 8-3 team including running back John Sanchez, fullback Josh Murphree and split end Paul McClendon. Returning starters on defense are Clarence Whitfield, who is moving from linebacker to the defensive back, joining Tommy Jiminez, J.T. Clark and McClendon in the secondary.

"We have some unanswered questions about our team, and we feel confident Wylie is going to show us where those questions are," Stamford head coach Jerry Taylor said. "It will be good for our people to work against someone they don't know."

Sandifer said that the team is "getting after it, but as usual at this time of the year, the team is in need of lining up against new faces.

"We want a good, hard, clean scrimmage and Stamford always gives us more than we can handle - which is good for us," Sandifer said. "We've had good practices, but you just can hit each other so long. They've been kind of dragging, but that will change."

Taylor also enjoys facing Wylie in the opening scrimmage each year.

"We like to open with a tough scrimmage, and Wylie can fill that role," Taylor said. "We feel like we have some fair football players. It behooves us as coaches to try and get them in the right places. I'm really interested in what our defense can do. Defensive end and linebacker has been a concern."

Sandifer said that David Dixon will be starting at an inside linebacker spot, so Wylie's three-way battle for starting quarterback is a little less crowded. Brady Hall and Grant Gregg will both see action with the first team tonight, and Dixon will see most of his work on defense.

Todd Barnett returns after being named first-team all-district at three positions - wide receiver, defensive back and place-kicker.

Center Jodie LaFrance and tackle Will Clay are also back on offense for Wylie, while nose guard Justin Scott will join Barnett and Calhoun as the only returning starters on defense.