Photo: Jean-Francois Nicollet Scrimmages are usually everything but fun, however Novi Sad Dukes managed to spice things up a little. ...
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| Photo: Jean-Francois Nicollet |
Scrimmages are usually everything but fun, however Novi Sad Dukes managed to spice things up a little.
We expected a practice/friendly game, no major hits, no big plays - however, we were in for a surprise. As there was a lack of stands (there weren't any), not too much was visible. We did stop counting after the 4th TD.
On Sunday, Dukes played a lower division team - Sombor Celtis. Both teams knew who will take the W, but, the enthusiasm and team spirit of the Sombor team that came in after the game blew us off. Although it was a scrimmage, any loss is a loss - and these guys just didn't care. They were rounding up for team photos, and the whole atmosphere around this guest team was quite amusing.
Back to the game. Dukes brought in two imports - our Hall of Fame - TDEU Approved athlete, Orlando Webb, and, a Colorado/Washington top prospect - Demetrius Sumler. The imports performed as expected, and were resting for most of the 2nd half.
We managed to catch up with Webb who said that it was finally great to get out on the field with his new temmates, and continued: "We look like we will have someting special here. We had a great scrimmage! Defense pitched a shutout. The offense scored on every possession. A few missed assignments, but Demetrius Sumler made great plays and the line did great with their assignments. Rastko Jokic (QB) threw the ball very well and the coaches had good play calling. We just have to focus on detail of assignments and not trying to be supermen, we will be very good. I'm excited about the future games!"
Petar Mikovic, center, agreed with Webb and added: "The only mistakes I feel we made were the mental ones, and this is exactly why we needed this scrimmage - to see where we stand, and to start clicking as a team. Team discipline was on a high level, and I think we will have a successful season. We have 2 weeks until the season kick-off, and now we need to work on getting the play-calling and execution to perfection."
By the end of the scrimmage - score was 74-0 (10 TDs with 3 unsuccessful 2pt conversions)
Last season, Dukes lost in the playoffs from Kragujevac Wild Boars, where just a week before that, during the last game of the regular season Dukes took a W with a 20 point difference against the same team. This year, the season starts a week later than previous - and Dukes will be hosts to the Pancevo Panthers, first weekend of April.
Mia Bajin
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