Chatham Football Team 'Average,' Says Coach

Chatham football head coach Don Morgenroth had only one word to say about the team's performance in last Saturday's scrimmage against Summit: "Average."

The scrimmage, the second one this preseason, gave the Cougars a chance to run plays and try schemes against an opponent for the second time in 2010, two weeks before the team opens the regular season.

"We are where we were in our last scrimmage," Morgenroth said. "I don't think we improved much. We still have a lot of work to do."

Since this was not a "game scrimmage," the scoreboard was off and the teams worked together to practice all aspects of what will happen in a real game. The teams started by practicing special teams play, including field goals and punts. That was followed by the varsity squads alternating series' of plays down the field before the junior varsity for each side did the same.

While the varsity squads were still on the field, Chatham's play was highlighted by quarterback Nick Guida, who sprung a long run on the team's first possession. Chatham also played very well on defense, bottling up a lot of Summit's inside running game.

"We played well at the end and really came together," Morgenroth said. "I also thought there were individuals who did well."

However, with the calendar still reading August, all teams in the state still have some fine-tuning to do before the regular season begins.

Chatham opened the preseason schedule last Tuesday in a scrimmage against Governor Livingston High School.

The Cougars will continue their preseason at home against Columbia on Tuesday at 11 a.m. Chatham will finish their exhibition season with a scrimmage at home versus Parsippany on Sept. 3 at 4 p.m. The team that will try and replace 15 seniors that played significant time will try and build on the success of last year's 6-4 team in the season opener on Saturday, Sept. 11 against Hackettstown at home at 1 p.m.