Italy’s JV Gladiators struggle to shake off the Bulldogs in 1-0 scrimmage loss
Italy JV Gladiator quarterback Joe Celis(9) passes out to receiver Eli Garcia for a positive gain with Celis being a bright spot for Italy’s JV against Palmer on both offense and defense. (Barry Byers)
Palmer — With Italy’s JV Gladiators getting off to a sluggish start against Palmer’s defense, who should consider changing their name to the Swarming Bees, the scrimmage proved to be a challenge for the boys in gold. Freshman quarterback, Joe Celis, provided a bright spot for Italy, however, who ultimately took matters into his own hands to get his offense moving in the right direction. Also touching the rock for Italy were Jorge Rodriquez, Jorge Galvan and Eli Garcia.
Although Italy’s offensive line did what they could, lineman sub Adrian Acevedo provided valuable blocking and hustle. Receivers John Escamilla and Clayton Miller made positive plays for Italy’s offense as well. Defensively, Celis was a work horse along with linebacker Kenneth Norwood, Jr. Ryan Connor had a pick early but Palmer’s JV eventually scored via their passing game with a scoring strike on a crossing pattern. The lone touchdown proved to be enough with Bulldogs recording the 1-0 scrimmage win.
Enjoy action photos of Thursday’s JV scrimmage in Palmer which should be a bit of a wake up call for Italy who likely entered the game a bit over confident after their dominance over the Valley Mills JV during a previous scrimmage.
Italy’s JV will have a chance to redeem itself on Thursday, August 29, when they play in their season opener against the Maypearl JV Panthers starting at 6:00 p.m. in Maypearl.