Bishop Guertin's Bob Fahey throws a pass during Tuesday's scrimmage against Manchester Memorial.
MANCHESTER – The Bishop Guertin High School football team took the field Tuesday against another squad for the first time this season, traveling to face Manchester Memorial.
While BG coach Tony Johnson felt there were positive things to take away from the first scrimmage of the season, he had hoped the Cardinals would come out more aggressive against the Marauders.
“We didn’t do a bad job offensively,” Johnson said. “We just made some mistakes. I think we’ve just got a young offensive line that needs a little help. I think Memorial played defensively very, very well against us. Fact of the matter is, we didn’t get aggressive enough today. I was very disappointed in the fact that we weren’t aggressive.”
Quarterbacks Steve Cuipa and Bob Fahey both performed well running the offense, while running backs Mike Kelly and Brian Bottari had a handful of nice runs. But overall, there were more miscues than Johnson was hoping to see.
“I saw some really good things on offense, with our offensive line,” Johnson said. “But collectively, as a group, I didn’t see what I wanted. Our running backs need better timing.”
Defensively, the Cardinals were done in by the big play, including a number of third- and fourth-and-long situations.
“We just gave up big plays,” Johnson said. “I just don’t think we were that aggressive as a unit. I saw some good things from some players.”
How the Cardinals performed should serve as a wake-up call, not only as to what to expect from another team, but also what is expected from the coach.
“We’ve got eight new guys on offense and nine new guys on defense,” Johnson said. “Some of those guys who think they’re starters, that’s a wake-up call, because I’ve got to find some guys who will run and play.”
BG will scrimmage again on Saturday against Nashua North at Stellos Stadium.