By ERIC VICCARO
sports@bowienewsonline.com

The Nocona and Forestburg High School football teams wrapped up the preseason with scrimmages on Thursday.
Nocona participated in a scrimmage at Petrolia, while Forestburg played host to Tioga at home at Longhorn Stadium.
Head coaches Brad Keck and Wayne Tuckwell said their opponents provided adequate challenges.
“We weren’t physical enough on the offensive and defensive lines,” said Keck. “Petrolia’s a good group, and they started last year at 4-0.”
Petrolia has a strong set of fast skill players, which put pressure on Nocona’s defense.

Forestburg

Tuckwell said both Forestburg and Tioga had trouble dealing with a sloppy field. Rain fell on Thursday morning in Forestburg, which turned grass more treacherous.
“We could have blocked better, and the weather had a lot to do with how we did,” Tuckwell said.
Tuckwell didn’t question the effort of the Longhorns, and he was happy how Forestburg ran its new-look spread offense.
“The way we executed our spread offense was decent,” the coach commented.
The scrimmage was scripted like this: Both teams had 20 plays on offense, and then a 15-play segment.

Season Openers

Forestburg opens with one of the top private school programs in the state. The Longhorns play at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 at Notre Dame in Wichita Falls.
The Jackrabbits will play host to Aubrey on Aug. 26 at Jackrabbit Stadium while Gold-Burg opens with Benjamin at Joe Corpening Field in Stoneburg. Both games feature 7:30 p.m. starts.

Jeremy James uses play-action deception while with Parker Marshall (right) during Thursday’s scrimmage against Petrolia. The Indians play Aug. 26 versus Alvord. (News photo by Eric Viccaro)