The Warren Lumberjacks got valuable preseason reps Friday evening, Aug. 21, on the road at McGehee in their annual preseason scrimmage against the Owls.
The matchup, which has become a yearly meeting between the two programs, gave both squads an opportunity to get live-action snaps before the regular season begins next week.
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The first half was played under a controlled scrimmage format, with each offense receiving five-play series rather than playing under a normal game clock. Because of that format, Saline River News did not keep an official running score during the opening portion of the scrimmage. The unofficial score reported by SRN reflects only the regulation-style quarter played in the second half.
McGehee opened the scrimmage with the football. Three plays into the Owls’ first series, Warren recovered a fumble, but McGehee retained possession because of the controlled scrimmage format.
Warren’s first five-play offensive series produced little movement, with the Lumberjacks unable to find much room and several passes falling incomplete.
On the first play of McGehee’s second series, Warren’s DeAngelo Herron showed excellent pursuit down the line of scrimmage, making a tackle after only a short gain. The Lumberjack defense held firm over the remaining four snaps.
Warren’s second offensive series also sputtered, as the Jacks struggled to string together positive yardage during the five-play set.
Both teams began rotating in second-team units for McGehee’s third offensive series. On the third play, Warren sophomore Jaylon Mitchell made a strong tackle in the middle of the trenches.
The second-team units remained on the field for Warren’s third series, with Coleman Byrd taking snaps at quarterback. Byrd lofted a well-placed vertical pass down the Warren sideline and drew a pass interference penalty against the McGehee cornerback. Warren was unable to reach the end zone over the final two plays of the series.
McGehee then ran a set number of plays beginning near its own 2-yard line. On the first snap, the Owls used play-action and took a deep shot, but Warren defensive back Hayden Hampton stayed disciplined, played the pass and came away with an interception.
Warren followed with its own series beginning near the 2-yard line. Starting quarterback Jackson Denton closed the five-play set with a well-thrown pass over the middle to senior wide receiver Jacob Marshall.
McGehee produced the first touchdown of the scrimmage during its next series, which began at midfield. On the second play, the Owls rolled the quarterback to the right and connected with a receiver deep downfield for a score.
Warren answered during a five-play series beginning at the McGehee 20-yard line. Denton connected with Josiah Steen for a touchdown.
The Denton-to-Steen combination struck again when Warren began another series at the 10-yard line. Steen worked a corner route, and Denton found him for another touchdown.
From that point forward, the scrimmage shifted to a regulation-style quarter with a running game clock, and SRN began keeping an unofficial score.
Warren received the football first and quickly faced third-and-15. Denton responded by connecting with Steen on a deep pass that moved the ball to the McGehee 36-yard line.
Another big completion, this time from Denton to Zaydin Grider, pushed the Lumberjacks all the way to the Owls’ 5-yard line.
Denton finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Marshall on a slant route. Jacarlos Marquez converted the extra point to put Warren ahead 7-0 during the regulation-style portion of the scrimmage.
The Lumberjack defense added another score with 8:51 remaining in the quarter.
McGehee put the football on the ground, and Warren’s Jaxstyn Ingram recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. Marquez added the extra point to extend Warren’s lead to 14-0.
Warren struck again with 2:20 remaining.
Denton connected with Steen on the right side, where Steen made the catch, cut back inside and did the rest with his legs, taking the play into the end zone. Marquez’s extra point was good, giving the Lumberjacks a 21-0 advantage.
Just 14 seconds later, Hampton came up with his second interception of the evening, picking off a McGehee pass with 2:06 remaining.
Warren made one final pass attempt near the end zone late in the scrimmage. Saline River News did not see an official touchdown signal from the referee on the play. While some viewers on social media indicated they believed Warren scored on the final attempt, SRN’s unofficial statistics do not include the potential touchdown because no official ruling was observed.
The unofficial final score from the regulation-style portion of the scrimmage was Warren 21, McGehee 0.
The Lumberjacks will now turn their attention to the regular-season opener. Warren travels to Malvern on Friday, Aug. 28, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
