Smith shines, Tiger defense shows progress in Watermelon Bowl

The Snyder Tiger football team enjoyed offensive success and watermelons at the annual Watermelon Bowl intrasquad scrimmage at Tiger Stadium Saturday.
The offense scored three times and the running game looked sharp as the Tigers got their first taste of live action in 2020.
Head coach Wes Wood was relieved to be back on the field.
“It was absolutely beautiful,” he said. “We’re just excited and blessed to be back playing some football. The kids responded amazing and they got after it. We have a really bright future.”
Before the scrimmage, the Tigers broke in their pads with an Oklahoma drill, during which a ball-carrier and a blocker try to score, while a defender is tasked with making the tackle. Following the drill, the Tiger first-team defense faced the best available offense to kick off the scrimmage.
On the first play, the ball escaped the grip of junior running back Manuel Briones, but the Tiger offense recovered.
A few plays later, junior quarterback Hunter Stewart connected with senior wide receiver Angel Fonseca for a 15-yard first down. The Tiger drive came to a halt when junior Jorge Olivarez intercepted a Stewart pass.
Wood said he was pleased with his defensive team’s progress.
“I wasn’t expecting our defense to click as well as it did one week in,” he said. “The whole mentality of playing ball when the whistle blows really came into play because, while they weren’t perfect, they made plays.”
Wood credited that quick progress to his defensive coaching staff.
“We’ve got a lot of good coaches on that staff,” he said. “We’ve got a ton of experience. (Defensive coordinator Mike) Widenor is such an energetic guy. We’ve got a guy that was a great player and has been to a lot of different places and then we have a guy that is getting to have his own role with the front guys. They’re a melting pot and to watch them work together and mesh has been interesting. I didn’t know if we would look as good as we did and I feel the reason for that success is the energy and the positivity of those coaches.”
Junior quarterback Cameron Smith made plays both with his legs and his arm. After picking up a first down on the ground, Smith handed the ball to Olivarez on a sweep for another first down.
The Tiger drive almost came to a close when senior linebacker Jax Collier stopped junior running back Jorge Olivarez short of the first down marker on third down. On fourth down, Smith kept the ball and picked up the first down.
Smith found Fonseca on a slant route for a 10-yard touchdown to end the segment.
In the next segment, Smith rushed for back-to-back first downs.
The Tigers picked up big yardage when Smith found an open Robert Henderson and the Tigers later scored on Smith’s 7-yard run.
The Tiger offense was run-heavy, something Wood said he changed this year due quarterbacks Stewart and Smith’s athleticism.
“The pass game is still developing,” he said. “We definitely have two quarterbacks that are much more mobile and we built our play-bank on that. I tell people I’ve never run the same offense in back-to-back years. You have to change to the kids you have at the high school level, so we have changed and adapted a lot more plays vectored towards them. With some of that run-heavy stuff, you can also develop more versatility. Good teams run the ball and that will open up the pass.”
The Tigers will continue two-a-days with practice shifting to afternoons Thursday.
The team will be on the road on Aug. 20 for a scrimmage against Littlefield before hosting Slaton for the season opener on Aug. 28. Until then, Wood said the focus is on staying healthy and staying safe.
“We’re just going to have to hope we can stay injury-free and COVID-free and see what happens,” he said.