Tigers competitive in Jamboree tuneup
Local fans were treated to their first taste of prep football in the Nevada Jamboree at Logan Field on Friday night. Nevada, Butler, Warsaw and Lamar participated in the live game-type scrimmage, the final tune-up before the regular season kicks off next Friday. The Jamboree serves two purposes. First, it gives the coaches a chance to see what their players can do in game situations and, secondly, it gives the players a chance to show their wares to the coaches. "We've got a lot of kids that have never stepped on a varsity football field," said Nevada head coach Jerry Cornelius, "so we had to see what they could do and we did that." Nevada opened the scrimmage against Butler, while Lamar faced Warsaw on the other half of the field. Each team was allowed 12 plays on offense, 12 on defense against each opponent. On Nevada's first offensive play, Tiger running back Steve Branstetter broke a 40-yard touchdown run. The Tigers scored twice more against Butler, a 23-yard pass play from quarterback Ben Wilson to tight end Eric Atkinson and another 40-yard gallop by Branstetter. Nevada, experimenting with several different personnel packages, failed to score against Warsaw or Lamar. On the defensive side, Nevada looked solid against all three opponents, although they allowed each team one score. One big play in each session either scored -- a 25-yard run by Butler and a 35-yard pass play by Lamar -- or set up a score -- a 25-yard run by Warsaw -- for the Tiger opponents. But, the overall defensive effort pleased coordinator David Carpenter. "I really didn't know (what to expect) when we started," said Carpenter. "I know we've got some good kids and some good athletes, but I just didn't know…there's so many new starters out there. But I'm smiling now. "I was real pleased. One of the things we're trying to do this year is get more speed on the field and fly to the football. And we did that." Coach Cornelius, too, liked the overall effort, but felt some of his players were a bit fatigued by the third session against Lamar. "Conditioning is a big part of what we have to accomplish," he said. "The hot weather has hurt our conditioning, because I've always used the heat to get 'em in shape, but if it's too hot, you can only run the kids so much. We may have to play ourselves in shape the first couple of games." So, next Friday when the Tigers step on Logan Field, it will be for real. Nevada hosts Lamar, one of its oldest rivals, in the annual Silver Tiger game at 7 p.m.