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Blue Devils set for scrimmage tonight with Blytheville

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Coach Hooks ready to build off disappointing first season at the helm

WM School District The pads have been popping for several days now and the West Memphis Blue Devils are itching to hit the opposition.

They’ll get that chance on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Hamilton-Shultz Field when the Blue Devils face Blytheville in a preseason scrimmage.

At 2-9 a year ago in head coach Robert Hooks’ inaugural year, the Blue Devils are anxious to put away the trials that came from 2021.

Hooks, for one, thinks his club will make good on that.

“I think we’re going to surprise some people this year,” he said. “They’re thinking we’re still going to be down. I think you’ll see a big improvement from us this year.”

The format on Tuesday against Blytheville, according to Hooks, will call for first-teamers from each squad facing off against each other for a half.

Minus the live kicking game, that is.

Then, the second half will be for second- and thirdteamers to shine.

“We need to have some early success on Tuesday night,” said Hooks. “We need to see it from both sides of the ball, although right now our defense is going to be stronger than our offense early in the season.”

The losses that piled up on the 2020 Blue Devils weren’t the only hardship the club faced. In the Covid-fueled campaign, Hooks and some of his staff endured two-week quarantines.

Players also felt the strain of coronavirus.

“Still, we don’t want to look back on that,” Hooks commented. “That season is over and we learned a lot. We had a brand new coaching staff and the players had to adjust to our system.”

Hooks pointed out that the film session from Tuesday night’s scrimmage will be vital before the club opens the regular season on Week Zero on Aug. 27 at Southwest Little Rock.

“The first three weeks is where you make your biggest strides,” he stated.

Only two starters from a year ago return on offense, one of which is senior quarterback Bryson Jenkins, who will once again get the early starting nod.

But the Blue Devils will welcome in transfer A’Shun Motley, a senior, who can play quarterback, receiver and running back.

“He’s a physical specimen who we want to get the ball to this year,” Hooks said of Motley, who is 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds. “He’s new, so he’s learning the system. He’s a fast learner.

But he’s able to play multiple positions. We think he’s a difference maker.”

Without giving away the starting lineup, Hooks said he expects possible “five or six” sophomores to start this season.

“We have 54 on roster and 25 of them are sophomores,” he said.

Photo by Billy Woods

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