The annual Red and White scrimmage marks the end of camp and the beginning of the 2008 regular season. Our coaching staff was really pleased with camp and we are excited to open the season.

Camp at Twin Lakes was a success. Our player’s effort in practice and attention in meetings was outstanding. From a football standpoint, camp was very productive. However, I believe the team building that occurred will benefit our team for seasons to come. I have been extremely impressed with the willingness of our upperclassmen to welcome our freshmen. Family is one of our program goals and our players take it to heart. There is no hazing; rather our players try to mentor the young guys. All of our players remember how tough it was when they were a freshman and really go out of their way to make it easier on this year’s freshman.

 Unfortunately, some of our players suffered personal tragedies during camp with a death in their family. During these moments, it is clear the relationships you build with your teammates are so much more important than the blocking and tackling drills.

We made it out of the Red and White scrimmage with just a few injuries. I was impressed with our tackling. Our defensive staff and players worked really hard on tackling during camp and it showed. We created six turnovers as well. If you attend one of our practices, you’ll see what an emphasis our defensive coaches’ place on takeaways and it is working. Defensively, if you tackle well and create turnovers you're off to a great start. Offensively, we are still not as confident in our assignments as we need to be. The uncertainty is preventing us from playing fast and causing us to commit too many pre-snap penalties. At times, we really executed well, so we just have to keep plugging away so we can develop more consistency.

This weekend we will have another scrimmage. With the scrimmage, comes another opportunity to evaluate our progress. Saturday’s scrimmage will show us the areas we must improve if we want a win on September 13th. (at Denison) Our two goals for Saturday: show progress and stay healthy.

Wabash Always Fights!

Coach Raeburn