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By Art Dlugach

If you’re the kind of person who goes to the back of the book to see the ending when you’re on page eight, you’ll like this lead. Well, not the content, but your suspense glands won’t be overused.

The scrimmage was not pretty; there were times it bordered on nasty. The coaches, showing the patience of Job, said all the right things at game’s end. They were correct in their assessment of the importance—or lack of importance—of this game, and what they stated allowed the boys to eat the barbecue graciously supplied by Sonora’s team in a more relaxed mood.

The Broncos, in the midst of more than two and a half hours of a roasting sun, roasted Llano 40-21 in the first of two scrimmages preceding the August 27 opener at Comanche.

Head coach David Yeager told the squad: "This was a practice, and you did some good things. Mistakes were made, but we can fix them."

The Jacket offense got the ball first for 20 plays. After failing to make a first down in three tries, they began again at the 30, and the 70-yard drive ended with Preston Rabb throwing 25 yards down the left sideline to Vance Bauer for a touchdown. The spread formation was off and passing—sort of.

"It’s a good offense," receiver Sterling Jameson said. "There’s always an option for us, run or pass, so it’s going to be fine."

"I thought Preston threw the ball well," Yeager declared. "We want to get a whole lot better, and our running of routes must improve."

The bottom line is this: it was no breakout performance as the curtain was raised—unofficially—on the stage production of the spread. Good moments and average ones.

One good one was a pass over the middle to Jordan Cavness, and the play lasted 34 yards. This did not lead to a score, but the march got all the way to the Sonora eleven yard line.

The Llano defense did well at first. Davis Hill authored a dandy hit, and Story Tatsch recovered a fumble on the play.

All was acceptable until Broncos’ quarterback Ethan Morriss raced 45 yards for one touchdown, and Zach Badeaux dashed 66 to set up another. Morriss, who ran for close to 1,400 yards a year ago and 20 touchdowns, would take his turn with a 55-yard sprint that led to the third of four unanswered scores for Sonora, which was 7-4 in 2009.

"Open-field tackling is on the top of our list to correct," defensive coordinator Brad Harman acknowledged. "I’m a firm believer that you grow as a person when you make a mistake, because the only way for a football player to get better is seeing on tape what he’s done wrong and improving on that."

Strong safety Clay Tarter, linebacker Sterling Jameson, defensive ends Travis Lawrence and Cavness, and cornerback Michael Rusche were cited by Harman as among those coming through—at times—on defense.

Rhett Brooks led the second team at quarterback and offered a glimpse of the future. Tatsch had an impressive 21-yard run.

Justin Saverance, the designated leader of the rushers, made two big plays: one was a 30-yard bolt, while the other saw him corral a Rabb delivery, elude tacklers on the sideline, and wind up with a 25-yard advance. "Our guys did a great job blocking. They allowed me to bounce it out from the first pursuers."

Greer reconstructed that picture with a "bounce out" that resulted in a 58-yard burst to the Broncos’ eight. How did that unfold? "I don’t remember," was the answer of enlightenment. "I got hit pretty hard right at first, but I kept on going."

Tarter got the touchdown, and the deficit was reduced to 26-14. Badeaux’s rebuttal was a 70-yard explosion.

"We need to be more intense," said Raven Herron, the last one who’ll lack intensity. "We have to forget about these mistakes and just ‘bring it’ next time."

Llano had one score left with Tarter running for 25 yards and then accepting a Brooks pass from the Broncos’ 35 to the 18. Rhett pushed the ball to the three and one, and Dylan Fread showed off a dazzling run that covered a bunch more than a yard. He shook off the defense at the five before scrambling into the end zone.

Give us something else to cheer about: With all the grumbling here, the Jackets found a way to amass 400 yards in total offense. Coach Chad Branham had good words for offensive linemen Kenneth Smith, Matthew Ratliff, Justin Oestreich, Hill, and Lawrence.

And Harman and others were pleased by one super effort by Jameson. "He came off the opposite edge and crashed into the quarterback, who got rid of the ball. It was caught, but Sterling followed the play and recovered the fumble caused by Rusche’s hit. As long as there’s effort, we can right the wrongs." The head coach’s final words to the squad: "It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. I’d be worried if we played a perfect game and peaked in August.

"Show up Monday with your sledgehammer, hard hat, and lunch pail. We’ll be fine; we’re going to get better."