Scrimmages are for learning experiences and the Timpson Bears picked up a valuable lesson Friday night when they traveled to Burkeville with an over-confident demeanor heading into the final tune-up for the 2010 regular season.
After disposing of the Mustangs 30-0 in the second game of the 2009 season, Timpson Head Coach Kenny Washington said his team was a little too confident going into the Friday scrimmage and the result was a 2-0 win by Burkeville.
The Bears will now try to learn from the lesson this weekend when they open the regular season at Pineland Friday with a 7:30 p.m. contest with West Sabine.
"We went down [to Burkeville] thinking that they were going to just let us have [a win]," Washington said Monday. "I think, in a way, it was probably the best thing we could have done because [a coach] can preach to the kids to not take anybody lightly and go out and play everybody hard, but until that light comes on for them you're kind of talking into the wind.
"By the time the scrimmage was over our players knew what they had done. They had thought Burkeville was going to lie down, but as it turned out they scored twice and we weren't able to put the ball in the endzone."
Despite the disappointment of the overall attitude going into the scrimmage, Washington said there were some signs of life from his team.
"When you look at the scrimmage on film, you see that some of our problems were just a matter of staying with a block a little longer, or a back hitting a hole a little bit harder or making a fundamental tackle just a little bit better," the coach noted. "These are things that we stress and stress, but until that player, as an individual, sees the importance of it, you're not quite there.
"After they scored their two touchdowns we came back and started tackling better and even moved the ball up and down the field better; we just didn't put it in the endzone."
Washington said if his team was going to learn that mental lesson, he was glad it was in scrimmage action. Now that it's out of the way, he said he hopes the squad can move forward.
"The 'win' that came out of the scrimmage for us was the fact that we learned a valuable lesson that everybody puts their pants on just like we do and if you don't come into every game with the right mental capacity you can get beat," Washington reasoned. "Now if they're just better than you, that's something else. But if the talent level is the same and you're not ready to play, you're in trouble."
Washington said because his team was so successful against this same Burkeville squad last year played a big part in his team not being prepared.
"Last year we beat these kids pretty bad, but I told the kids they need to prepare for this scrimmage like it was gametime. Our mindset every time out needs to be, 'I don't care who we are playing, we're going to demolish you.'
Washington said he hopes his team can 'change gears' and be ready to play against the Tigers this week.
"West Sabine is very talented," he explained. "They can run and they get after the ball on defense. When they have the ball they have a lot of weapons.
"During the scrimmages, we only prepared ourselves. Beginning this week we'll prepare more for our opponent and the things they like to do. Hopefully that will also help us prepare and be ready to play."
Last season the Bears took a close 6-0 home loss to West Sabine during the fifth week of the season under very wet conditions.