By AUSTIN NELSONThe Greenille Advocate
The Fort Dale Eagles took to the field again Thursday for a seven-on-seven matchup against Lowndes Academy. Coach James “Speed” Sampley said he took around 26 kids to the event.“I don’t think we played as well as we did the week before, but I think the players are tired of seven-on-seven games,” Sampley said. “Everyone is kind of ready for the scrimmaging and conditioning to stop.”Sampley said he feels that the game was an opportunity to improve, but doesn’t feel his players made much progress during the bout. On a lighter note, Sampley feels his tight ends have been making good progress making the switch to their new positions, as all of them were guards last year. Also, Sampley said that he has more depth with his receivers than he has in a while.“I think allthe injuries last year, though they were a curse at the time, helped us get ready to play this season,” Sampley said. It’s going to take a few adjustments, however to transition from last year’s style of play to something that suits the skills of this year’s squad.“Our offense is going to be a little different,” Sampley said. “With hunter, we could pretty much throw wherever we wanted to, and he was the fullback and did most of the power running. We just got to keep working at it, and we’ll be ready to win football games, not seven-on-seven contests.”The Eagles will host their own seven-on-seven matchup at home on Thursday.