August 16, 2012

MSAC Grid-o-rama starts tonight at Laidley

By Rick Ryan

The Charleston Gazette

 

Since moving all home games to its South Hills campus, George Washington doesn't get back to Laidley Field very often.

 

The Patriots, however, do just that tonight for the eighth Mountain State Athletic Conference Grid-o-rama, which begins at 5:30 at Laidley. All 15 of the league's teams will compete in the two-day scrimmage event.

 

Tickets are priced at $7 for adults and $6 for students.

 

"I always thought it was a nice place to play,'' said GW coach Steve Edwards Jr. "The kids always like to play on a turf field, so they're looking forward to that. If it does rain [there's a 60 percent chance of showers today] then it won't affect things too much.''

 

Capital and Parkersburg start things off at 5:30 tonight with a two-quarter scrimmage, followed by GW and Parkersburg at approximately 6:45 and Capital and GW at about 8:15.

 

As a bonus, GW gets an early look at two of its regular-season opponents - though it doesn't play Capital until Oct. 18 and Parkersburg until Nov. 2.

 

Edwards said he doesn't plan on using "vanilla'' offensive and defensive schemes tonight so as not to show his hand against the Big Reds or Cougars.

 

"No, we're not going to hide anything,'' he said. "We've got nothing to hide. We all exchange film anyway. We just want to try and get a little bit better than we were in the past scrimmage. I'm sure all the coaches feel the same way.

 

"We're just going into it like everybody else - hoping that we get something done without anybody getting hurt. It's difficult preparing for two different teams because when you go into something like this you want to give your kids the best chance to succeed. You want to be as prepared as you can be. That being said, we want to make sure we come out healthy and get a look at some kids we're really going to need to count on when the season gets underway.''

 

This weekend's MSAC scrimmages conclude the preseason, with the opening games around the state set for Aug. 23-25.

 

Tonight's GW-Parkersburg matchup features the only pairing of two Class AAA playoff teams from last season during all the MSAC scrimmages.

 

Patriots tailback Ryan Switzer enjoyed big nights against both Parkersburg and Capital last year during his Kennedy Award-winning season. Switzer ran for 328 yards and six touchdowns against the Big Reds (adding a seventh score on a punt return) a week after rushing for 227 yards and two TDs versus the Cougars.

 

Traditionally, teams in MSAC scrimmages play their starters and backups equal time, meaning GW, Capital and Parkersburg should use their first stringers for about a quarter in each matchup. The league's other 12 teams all play four quarters apiece against one opponent on Saturday, starting with St. Albans against Cabell Midland at 9:30 a.m.

 

The remaining scrimmages pit Winfield and Woodrow Wilson at 11:25 a.m., Nitro and Princeton at 1:30 p.m., Hurricane and Ripley at 3:10, Riverside and Spring Valley at 5 and South Charleston and Huntington at 6:50.

 

For Winfield, today's morning scrimmage serves as its indoctrination into the MSAC after spending the last three years as a Class AAA independent.

 

It also marks a return to Laidley Field for Generals' first-year coach Craig Snyder, who competed in many games there as a player at George Washington.

 

"It's ironic that my first game as a head coach is against Beckley,'' Snyder said, "because when I was at GW, our first game of the year was always against Beckley. I'm sure that's going to be a good experience. I played a lot of games at Laidley Field, and it'll be kind of cool standing back there and being on that sideline. I'm excited, and I think it'll be interesting to be part of that atmosphere.

 

"I think most coaches in scrimmages - especially new coaches - play it close to the vest. I certainly can't afford to have injuries. I'd like to work with my 'ones' for the first quarter and part of the second, and get a lot of my young guys work. Scrimmages, although they're meaningful, the result does not matter.''

 

Admission prices remain the same on Saturday, and paying fans can get their hands stamped at the gate, leave and return later in the day.

 

Reach Rick Ryan at 304-348-5175 or rickr...@wvgazette.com.