Red-Black Soda Scrimmage beneficial for MHS football team and booster club

The Maricopa High School football team’s Red-Black Soda Scrimmage was productive on the field and profitable at the concession stand.

Head coach Cory Nenaber divided the Rams into two squads for Thursday night’s controlled scrimmage, with one team wearing black jerseys and the other suited up in white. With the teams taking turns at running 10-play series on offense against the opposing defense, the Blackshirts got the better of the competition, tallying four touchdowns as compared to one for the White.

“It was pretty good,” Nenaber said afterward. “Parts of it were really good. We got everybody in.”

Meanwhile, the Maricopa Rams Football Booster Club collected more than 100 12-packs of soda as admission donations from fans attending the scrimmage. In re-selling the beverages at home games throughout the season at a price of $1 per can, the booster club will raise more than $1,200 for the football program.

Weather conditions were mild and pleasant for the annual scrimmage at the MHS football stadium.

“I thought Travis Brown and K.J. Diehl played pretty well,” Nenaber said, referring to the senior backfield duo who turned in numerous big plays for the Blackshirts. “I thought Darrius Oldham played pretty well at receiver. He was open a lot. Up front, Carlos Ruiz and Sean Dodge both did a really good job.”

Nenaber said that seniors Ryan Sarver and Patrick Duffy both played well on defense.

Senior running back Brian Nechamkin set up the Black team’s first touchdown with a 21-yard cutback run. Diehl then dived into the end zone at the end of a 14-yard quarterback keeper around left end.

On the White team’s first possession, senior quarterback Patrick Davis completed a 9-yard pass down the right sideline to junior Kody Kear on a fourth-and-2 play. On the same series, Davis scrambled for a first down on fourth-and-4.

The Blackshirts scored the scrimmage’s second touchdown on an 18-yard run around left end by senior Tim Samuels. On the same 10-play series, Brown threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Oldham in the left corner of the end zone.

The Whiteshirts executed an efficient touchdown drive just before halftime. During the series, Davis completed a 17-yard sideline pass to senior Justin Warren that advanced the White team to the Black 11-yard line. Sophomore Kentrell Coleman then ran for 10 yards around right end, and the Whiteshirts scored on the next play.

The second half was highlighted by a 67-yard touchdown run by Brown.

Following the scrimmage, the team’s attention turned to its upcoming regular-season opener against the Buckeye Hawks. “Be here on Monday, ready to rock,” Nenaber said to his players in the post-scrimmage huddle, referring to a focused week of practice that will lead up to Friday night’s game at Buckeye.

Photo by Tom Kessler