Spring practices are a time to get the team up to speed for the coming season.

For the Wylie Pirates, it’s also a time to generate excitement in their annual Maroon vs. White spring game. The white team came out on top in the scrimmage last Friday, but head coach Jimmy Carter was happy to see his players competing hard on the football field.

“It was great how we changed our practices this spring and it showed on the field during the game,” Carter said. “We split our seniors in half and let them draft their teams, showing what they liked from each player and who stood out in the spring and allowed them to win some bragging rights. It was a heated draft party.”

Both teams made some big hits before an early score to the white team, thanks to a long catch and run from Chase Chum. He got the scoring going, but maroon quickly responded with a long haul from wide-receiver Sean Carter.

With both teams showing life, coach Carter said it just fueled the game’s competitiveness.

“The speed of the game was just great,” Carter said. “Defensively, we flew around the ball and made some big hits and offensively, we made some really great plays.”

Sean Carter is entering his senior season and third year starting for the Pirates. While primarily working as a safety his first couple of seasons, he’ll get even more work in all three phases of the game this year.

“Sean probably won’t come off the field,” Carter said. “He’s going to be really important for us and will probably only get some rest on extra point plays. He’ll be a part of the team offensively, defensively and in the return game.”

The white team’s final score came on their final drive when Chris Lewis caught a halfback pass for a touchdown. He had four catches on the possession and capped it off on the third down touchdown for the Pirates.

While the skill position players made some eye-popping plays during the spring game, Carter didn’t want to put too much pressure on essentially an inexperienced group before the season.

“They’re still young and learning, so we’ll see how much they’ll contribute,” Carter said. “Chris is a guy coming out of basketball and track who hasn’t played football in a few years, but he showed some good things. We’ll also probably have a freshman competing as well and I think both guys can make an impact.”

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By Kyle Grondin • [email protected]