The Macon County High School Tiger football team hosted the Marshall County Tigers on Friday, August 5th for theirfirst real scrimmage of the 2005 season. New head coach Daniel Cook has only had a couple of weeks to get histroops ready for the upcoming season, and with the short preparation time I honestly wasn't expecting a whole lot out of the hometown team. However, I believe everyone in attendance waspleasantly surprised, as Macon County came out fired up and quite honestlytook it to the Tigers of Marshall County. The Tigers had possession of the ball first and went three plays andout. Marshall County then took control of the ball and marched it down the field. They would eventually score on a pass play to the corner of the end zone to put the first points on the board. MCHS then immediately went to work. The blocking of the line was looking great, as they were blowing the Marshall County defenders off the ball. Michael Dallas had plenty of holes to run through, while quarterback Adam Shaw completed a couple of huge passes on the drive. The Tigers marched all the way down the field, as Dallas punched it in from one yard out to put the Tigers first touchdown on the board. The line usually doesn't get much publicity, as the running backsand receivers are the ones who usually score the touchdowns. But there was no ignoring the way our line was run blocking, and this was extremely evident on the play before Dallas scored, as left tackle Nick Keene drovehis man all the way into the end zone before throwing him to the ground. This was easily visible by the large hometown crowd in attendance and got everyone in the stadium fired up. This was pretty much how the rest of thescrimmage would go, as both teams traded scores a few more times before the second team and freshman worked their way in. The Tigers next score would come on a little swing pass from Keith Kirby to Dallas, who would carry it 80 yards for another score. Receiver Allen Hire made a great block to help spring Dallas. The Tigers final varsity score came on the legs of Dallas once again, as he took an inside handoff and maneuvered his way 65 yards for his third score of the day. Marshall County would four more times on the day, however one score is questionable as the Tigers put together a great goal line stand, but with no officials there was no one there to call penalties or decide on touchdowns. The Tigers showed up ready to play and really outworked Marshall County. There is definitely no questioning on whether Coach Cook will have histeam in condition before the first game of the season. There were many great things to come out ofthis scrimmage. One is the quarterbacking, as Adam Shaw and Keith Kirby both had solid showings. The running game also looked great with theoffensive line and tailback Michael Dallas pretty much putting on aclinic. The interior run defense also looked pretty good, as linebacker Jonathan Hudson made his presence known early and often with several great hits. Thebiggest concern for the Tigers was perimeter defense, as the secondary gave up two passing touchdowns, and several big runs that were to the outside. The only other question mark came with theoffensive line's pass blocking, but when the defense blitzes eight andyou only have six to block someone has to come free and that was the case acouple of times the other day. All in all things went pretty good and I am looking forward to seeing how the Tiger sprogress toward the regular season. Thisprogression continues tonight, as the Tigers travel to Celina to take on theClay County Bulldogs at 6 P.M. MCHS will be in action again on Saturday, August 13th as they travel to Trousdale County to participate in the Tobacco Bowl Jamboree against Wilson Central.