Backfield in motion for Lafayette

Joey Kraegenbrink rushed for more than 80 yards and two touchdowns for Lafayette during Friday's scrimmage.

By John Harvey

HarveySports757@yahoo.com

WILLIAMSBURG – Lafayette High’s football team started practice this summer trying to replace nearly 3,000 yards and 40 touchdowns worth of production following the graduation of Jahlil Green and Schekel Wallace.

Brandon Villanueva-Pernell had three catches for the Rams.

Coach Andy Linn began auditioning for the top two running back positions Friday afternoon during a scrimmage with King William held at Cooley Field.

Joey Kraegenbrink, Deacon Smith, John Douglass and Kyle Johnson were among the nearly dozen of players to take handoffs against the Cavaliers.

“I wanted to see all of my backs, that was it,” Linn said. “When you have a senior-laden offensive line, you should be able to run the football.”

Tyrek Graham scored a touchdown on offense and defense.

Kraegenbrink rushed for more than 80 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound junior broke off a 40-yard touchdown run on the opening series. He also had a 26-yard touchdown ran later in the scrimmage.

Smith and Douglass also ran the ball with a purpose at the fullback position. The duo combined for roughly 60 yards. Douglass and Johnson also scored rushing touchdowns.

“I think everybody’s going to leave here talking about what Joey Kraegenbrink did tonight,” Linn said. “Deacon ran the ball really well at fullback and we had some other guys make plays too.”

QB Connor McGinty looked sharp under center. The 6-foot-3 senior completed 5 of 7 passes for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns. He hooked up with Derrick Harris on a 26-yard touchdown on a fade route. Later in the scrimmage, Graham made a nice leaping catch in the corner of the endzone for McGinty’s second touchdown of the night.

QB Brendan McGinty (14) had a 22-yard gain on the ground.

  

WR Brandon Villanueva-Pernell made three catches, including a 40-yard completion where he tip-toed down the sidelines before he was shoved out at the 5-yard-line.

Defensively the Rams had a decent showing against King Williams’ spread offense. Smith, Hummel and Goad were among the standouts. Graham returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and also recovered a fumble.

The Cavaliers did score twice on the first unit. One was a 20-yard touchdown run on an inside trap play on a blitz. The second game on a play-action pass on third and goal.

Linn said the results were typical. “This is why we have scrimmages,” he said. “We still have a lot to work on. We’re still running the ball up too high and we had some missed assignments.”

Click here for more photos from Friday's scrimmage.

Contact me at HarveySports757@yahoo.com or @HarveySports via Twitter.