[h=1]Massillon's Bardawil happy with offense's progress[/h] Chris Easterling
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Updated: Thursday, July 19, 2012
Massillon’s Gareon Conley reels in a catch over Northwest’s Jake Marty during 7-on-7 drills Thursday at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon. INDEPENDENT KEVIN WHITLOCK
MASSILLON Rome wasn’t built in a day. Likewise, first-year Massillon offensive coordinator Badre Bardawil is well aware that what one sees in a 7-on-7 scrimmage in July isn’t necessarily going to translate over to what one sees in Weeks 8, 9 or 10 of the regular season.
That said, Bardawil couldn’t suppress his enthusiasm for what he has seen out of the Tigers as they close in on the end of their 10 summer camp days.
“I’m really pleased,” Bardawil said Thursday evening, after the Tigers wrapped up a five-team 7-on-7 competition at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium that featured Northwest, Lake, Norwayne and Springfield Northwestern. “The kids are working really, really hard. They’ve caught onto our system well.”
View a photo gallery from the 7-on-7 drills
Thursday’s 7-on-7 extravaganza was Massillon’s third this month. It started July 12 with one at Louisville, then the Tigers had two this week — Monday against Orrville prior to Thursday’s.
In that short time span, Bardawil has seen the offense take measurable steps forward. Thursday, the Tigers’ varsity went against Lake, Northwest and Norwayne, and they showed explosiveness from a variety of spots on the field against all three.
Massillon scored at least a half-dozen times in each of its three 20-minute offensive periods. The Tigers scored on short out routes that turned into big plays, they scored on deep post patterns and they scored on routes in between.
But while big plays have been a staple of all three 7-on-7s for Massillon, what has pleased Bardawil the most is the little nuances in which the offense is growing.
“I think we’ve gotten better every one,” said Bardawil, who admits the Tigers have about 75 percent of the offense
installed, with roughly 95 percent or so expected to be in by the start of two-a-days July 30. “We made a lot of big plays against Louisville, but we made a lot of mechanical mistakes at receiver. Those improved in the second one against Orrville. We were a little sloppy in our first series, then we got in a groove toward the end.
“I see the progression to today; today was good. And we faced some good teams out here. Northwest, Lake and Norwayne will probably all be playoff teams, and they’re good. We challenged our kids to come out and be competitive against every team.”
Bardawil gives a lot of the
credit for the smooth way the offense has looked to the Tigers’ senior quarterback, Kyle Kempt.
The University of Cincinnati recruit was impressive throughout Thursday’s event, hitting receivers in stride while both in the pocket and while on the run.
“I think it starts with Kyle,” Bardawil said. “Kyle’s had an outstanding offseason. He’s put a lot of
work in, both physically and mentally, as well as his mechanics. He’s really gotten down the rhythm of this passing game, which is key. When our rhythm and timing is down, and Kyle’s putting the ball where it’s supposed to be, we have the athletes to throw it to.”
That was very evident Thursday, as a variety of receivers got into the mix for Massillon. Gareon Conley, Beau Huffman, Brody Tonn, Ernie Baez, Ryne Moore and Alex Dailey were just a few of the players who made big plays for the Tigers.
Of course, Bardawil acknowledges the 7-on-7 format — which does not allow for a run game nor a pass rush from the defense — doesn’t allow for a complete look at the offense. The Tigers’ attack figures to have a significant ground presence with Moore, Eric Copeland and Kentrell Taylor running the ball behind an offensive line featuring the massive Nathaniel Devers and Chase Lash.
Still, with what the Tigers have been able to do so far, Bardawil feels good about where they stand entering this weekend’s team camp at Ashland University.
“We want to push the tempo, and our kids have absolutely bought into it,” he said. “We only have one of our tempos in right now. That’s a big part of our weekend. We feel like we can change things up on teams and try to keep teams off-balance. We’ll see what happens from there.”