Morgan Academy’s 7-on-7 at Hooper Academy Friday left the Senators with some areas to work on going into their 7-on-7 at home Thursday.

Morgan Academy head coach Bob Taylor said he anticipated having some things to clean up, considering it was the first time the Senators played any kind of competitive football since May.

“[One] thing we have got to improve on is our effort, staying focused on what we are doing throughout the day,” Taylor said. “And a lot of that has to do with the heat and playing that fast — twenty minutes and you are off the field, and  you rest and then you are back on.”

In four total games against Autauga Academy, Chambers Academy, Restoration Academy and Hooper Academy, Taylor said his team played well, but needed to more consistently catch the football.

“At times we caught everything that was thrown to us and at times we would go three or four passes in a row that we dropped,” Taylor said.

However, Taylor said there were a lot of things that the Senators did well.

“I was really pleased with understanding where the open area is with our receivers,” Taylor said. “[I was pleased with] our defensive backs and linebackers understanding their drops and where they need to get to. The other stuff is all correctable.”

Morgan Academy’s Dalton Lee was the only quarterback that made the trip to Hooper Academy, and Taylor said he improved throughout the day.

“You could see the rust in not playing, not having picked the football up since May as far as throwing into coverages. It got better as the day went along with a lot of his passes,” Taylor said, estimating Lee threw more than 100 passes.

Looking ahead at Morgan Academy’s 7-on-7 Thursday, Taylor said he plans for his team to continue taking steps in the right direction.

“The biggest thing I am looking for Thursday is a chance for the kids to take what we’ve learned from the other [7-on-7] and apply it in this setting,” he said.

Taylor also said he hopes to keep implementing more of the offense this week, because the offense the Senators ran in the 7-on-7 Friday was “pretty vanilla.”

This year the Senators are altering their offensive playbook to be more of a spread-based attack, where skill position players are easier to get in space.

Taylor said he believes that being a spread-based team will make it possible for the Senators to get more out of 7-on-7.

He said the team will go over Friday’s results at Hooper Academy with a fine-tooth comb, looking at how well his players did with drops, routes and coverages.

Morgan Academy’s 7-on-7 will start at 3 p.m. Thursday, July 18.