Morgan shows improvement in Thursday’s 7-on-7

Published 8:33 pm Thursday, July 18, 2013

An East Memorial Christian Academy player catches a pass and attempts to run away from a Morgan Academy player during Thursday’s 7-on-7 at Morgan Academy.  The Senators played six games as part of the 7-on-7, which eight teams from around the state took part in.--Daniel Evans

An East Memorial Christian Academy player catches a pass and attempts to run away from a Morgan Academy player during Thursday’s 7-on-7 at Morgan Academy. The Senators played six games as part of the 7-on-7, which eight teams from around the state took part in.–Daniel Evans

Morgan Academy showed improvements between Friday’s 7-on-7 at Hooper Academy and Thursday’s 7-on-7 at home against numerous teams from around the state.

Senator head coach Bob Taylor said the offense continues to adjust to Morgan Academy’s faster paced tempo. He said his quarterbacks and receivers are starting to read defensive coverages better as they learn the offense.

“We are getting into what we want to do, as far as where we want to line up and run the football,” Taylor said of the up-tempo offense. “It is a matter of the kids adapting to it also.”

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Overall, Taylor was pleased with the tempo his offense showed, but he said it continues to be a work in progress.

“Offensively, we still have got a little bit of the dropsies in key situations, not necessarily knowing where we are,” Taylor said. “Then again, you turn around and look and we hit people running wide open. They start seeing it. It’s the good with the bad. I see the good things, but coaches always find the bad.”

Defensively, the Senators intercepted several passes throughout the day and broke up a lot of passes.

“Defensively, I am really pleased with the way we are breaking on the football right now,” Taylor said.

He said the Senators intercepted four passes in their games last Friday, and was impressed that his team surpassed that number early on in Thursday’s 7-on-7.

The main area Taylor said his defense needs to improve on is understanding down and distance.

“Understanding, 3rd & 3 we have to take the short stuff away,” Taylor said. “It is a little bit different in this, but we still want to understand that we have to take the three yards away and make them go over the top.”

Taylor said the Senators have a lot of youth in the secondary, so he expects pass coverage to improve as his younger players gain experience.

Overall, Taylor was happy with how the eight-team event went.

“It is good to see this many teams out here, to not have officials,” Taylor said. “The kids are getting along pretty well. It is physical but it is under control with what we’ve got.”

Eight schools participated. The games were 22 minutes long. Quarterbacks were given four minutes to throw the football from the snap and first downs were awarded at the 25-yard-line and 10-yard-line.

Morgan Academy played Clarke Prep, Macon East, EMCA, Lee Scott Academy, Monroe Academy, and Autauga Academy Thursday.